Wednesday, February 24, 2010

New Opera 10.50 beta aims to surpass Chrome

The Opera Browser

made some serious headway in keeping itself relevant when it introduced a new JavaScript engine for its upcoming revision.

The latest edition of Opera

10.50 beta 2 for Windows contains no new major features, some minor feature improvements, and is mostly a bug-fixing release that incorporates around 100 changes since the first beta.

Changes to the Windows version include what appears to be modest but detectable improvements to the new Carakan JavaScript engine. In tests limited because of time constraints, I scored the

new Opera beta

on the SunSpider JavaScript test. Over three runs, it averaged 386.4 milliseconds, compared to the 435.6 ms for the pre-alpha on the same computer.

Opera 10.50 beta

1 scored just above 400 ms, albeit on a different computer. For comparison, today's update to the development version of Google Chrome averaged 416 ms over three runs on the SunSpider test on the same computer that Opera 10.50 beta 2 was tested on.

Other changes to
Opera 10.50 beta
2 include a visual tweak for Windows XP users, moving the tabs on top for when the default Windows XP theme is used. Windows XP users who use "classic" mode won't see the change. An Opera Widgets panel has been added to the Opera user interface, and the RSS news reader and e-mail client have also received tweaks. The full changelog is available here.

The Mac release includes multiple bug-fixes from the previous pre-alpha version, including improvements to Carakan, typing speed tweaks, fixing the context menu in the Speed Dial feature, and crash fixes. The full changelog can be read here.

TV white space networks tested

The city of Wilmington, N.C., and the surrounding county of New Hanover, N.C., are among the first communities to test wireless applications using TV white space technology.

TV white spaces are the unused TV broadcast channels made available by the recent transition from analog to digital TV. In 2008, the Federal Communications Commission unanimously agreed to open up this unused broadcast TV spectrum for unlicensed use, despite strong protests from TV broadcasters, who argued using this spectrum could interfere with their television broadcasts.

Initially, the network is being used for three main applications. The first application uses traffic cameras at intersections to provide real-time traffic monitoring for the department of transportation to reduce congestion, fuel consumption, travel time, support local law enforcement, and assist with hurricane and disaster evacuations.

In the third application, the city and county are using the white space network to remotely monitor and manage wetland areas to comply with EPA regulations. Because these areas are hard to get to, there is no fiber optic network that can be used to transmit data from sensors in the field. So people go out in boats and canoes to collect the data from the monitors. Now using the white space network, the data can be transmitted wirelessly.

But he admits that using white space spectrum is just one way to offer these wireless applications. Existing cellular networks are already being used in some places to deliver some of these services today. Some cities have already tried deploying Wi-Fi for similar applications. And wireless operators, such as Verizon Wireless, promise that 4G wireless technology will provide these same functions.

Indeed, TV white spaces is expected to be a part of the national broadband plan that the FCC is currently developing and preparing to present to Congress next month. FCC chairman Julius Genachowski has already expressed interest in using white spaces to deliver alternative broadband access. And he has been encouraging companies to think creatively about how to use the spectrum.

It's early days for white space use, and the Wilmington/New Hanover deployment is only the second test bed that Spectrum Bridge has established to test applications for white space networks. In October, the company set up a network in Claudville, Va., a town with a population of about 900 people. Claudville does not have access to DSL or cable broadband services. It's only serviced by dial-up Internet and satellite broadband.http://google-trends-usa.blogspot.com

Rotondo said that the Spectrum Bridge networks are simply to show what is possible with white space spectrum and technology. The company won't be building white space devices and it won't run a white space network. Instead, it is creating software that can be used by white space products to mitigate interference. Spectrum Bridge has created a data base that keeps track of available white space spectrum, and it's developed software, which can be used by device makers to check for available spectrum to avoid interference.

Lotus hybrid concept one-ups Tesla Roadster, Chevy Volt


On the heels of announcing a hybrid power train for the Proton car company, Lotus released details of its own hybrid Evora concept. The Evora is the latest model from Lotus, and is slightly larger car than its other models that retains the company's sport driving capabilities. The Lotus Evora 414E Hybrid uses a newly developed series hybrid system, with an electric motor driving each rear wheel and a range extender internal combustion engine topping off the lithium polymer battery as needed.

The Evora 414E Hybrid has a more sophisticated electric-drive system than the Tesla Roadster, which is built on a Lotus-designed chassis and body. Each rear wheel is powered by its own 152-kilowatt electric motor, with Lotus electronics providing torque vectoring to enhance handling. These electric motors individually create 295 pound-feet of torque, giving the Evora 414E Hybrid a zero to 60 mph time of less than 4 seconds.

Similar to the upcoming series hybrid Chevy Volt, the Evora 414E Hybrid will be plug-in capable, so owners can charge the battery over night. On a full charge, the car can travel 35 miles before the range extender engine kicks in, giving it a full hybrid range of more than 300 miles.

Unique to the Evora 414E Hybrid is a virtual seven-speed transmission actuated by paddle shifters. Each downshift engages a more aggressive regeneration mode for the drive motors, simulating the feel of downshifting a car with gears. To complete the experience, Lotus used audio technology from Harman International that simulates engine noise, and modulates its sound based on motor speed and virtual downshifts. The driver can select from four engine sound modes: a V-6 engine, V-12 engine, a futuristic sound, and a combination of internal combustion and futuristic sounds.

Report: Teen gets 15 years for Facebook blackmail

Anthony Stancl, 19, plead no contest in December to two felonies, including repeated sexual assault of a child, according to the report. Stancle had been accused of creating a Facebook profile belonging to a nonexistent teenage girl and then, between approximately the spring of 2007 and November of 2008, using it to convince more than 30 of his male classmates to send in nude photos or videos of themselves.

About 300 photos of underage males, some of which were as young as 15, were found on Stancl's computer, police in the teen's hometown of New Berlin, Wisc., told the AP. Stancl had originally come under police scrutiny in November 2008 after a bomb threat temporarily closed New Berlin High School.

Stancl then reportedly threatened to post the photos or videos on the Internet if they didn't engage in some sort of sexual activity with him. At least seven of them have said they were coerced into sex acts, which Stancl documented with a cell phone camera.

Stancl reportedly showed no emotion as his sentence was read on Wednesday but said he had grown to empathize with what his victims went through. He had reportedly faced up to 30 years in prison.


Conan joins Twitter, beats Leno in hours

Conan O'Brien, he who was treated almost as badly by NBC as the Winter Olympics, seems to have become one of the microbloggerati.

Not only has someone called Conan O'Brien joined Twitter at twitter.com/ConanOBrien, but the legendarily slow site has already given his feed the hallowed status of Verified Account.

You will be wondering what words decorated the bouffant one's first tweet. Well, it was a simple affair: "Today I interviewed a squirrel in my backyard and then threw to commercial. Somebody help me."

When the intoxicating yard of ale that is nightly TV fame is taken away from you, it can be a very difficult experience. You can suddenly gain a sense of your real self and that is not necessarily a sense that you enjoy on a daily basis.

Who could fail to imagine that this is merely the first step in a vast socially networked marketing campaign?

It will keep on reminding you, firstly, that O'Brien is still alive and might eventually be funny. And secondly, that he will be back on some kind of television channel very, very soon.


IBM leans on Hadoop for BigSheets data analysis

IBM is expected to announce Thursday that it is working with the British Library on a project that will preserve and analyze terabytes of information on the Web before it is lost forever. Recent research estimates the average life expectancy of a Web site is 44 to 75 days. Every six months, roughly 10 percent of Web pages on the U.K. domain are lost.

The new analytics software project, called IBM BigSheets, helps extract, annotate, and visually analyze vast amounts of Web information using a Web browser. The British Library is using a prototype of the software to archive and preserve massive amounts of Web pages to ensure the data doesn't disappear over time.

Beyond just the physical assets, the British Library has been archiving selected Web pages from the U.K. domain since 2004. According to David Boloker, CTO of Emerging Technologies at IBM, with BigSheets, users of the library in the future will be able to access vast archives of historic Web sites and easily research and analyze their queries and visualize the results of the search.

In most cases of personal sites this is no big loss, but in the case of organizations attempting to archive and chronicle elections, news, media, and video, this data leakage presents massive challenges. And even if you have the data the question remains as to whether it will be usable, or even in a recognizable format.

Boloker explained that BigSheets is a private cloud service running parallel MapReduce jobs on all of the library's machines. And while it's a private cloud (take note--private cloud spotted in the wild) the British Library will make the data and services available for people to access.

There is no shortage of data to analyze these days, and more and more government agencies and large corporations will continue to find themselves in search of these types of solutions. What's nice to see is that open source, and perhaps more importantly, Apache-licensed open source software is what next-generation analytics tools are being built on.

Olympic Medal: M 10,000m Speed Skating

British Columbia, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Seung-Hoon Lee of South Korea became the Olympic gold medal winner of the men's 10,000-meter speed skating race Tuesday after Sven Kramer was disqualified.

Kramer, from the Netherlands, had a time that was 4 seconds better than Lee's, but he was disqualified for carrying his right skate over a cone while switching from the outside to the inside lane.

The silver medal went to Ivan Skobrev of Russia and the bronze to Bob de Jong of the Netherlands.

Clara Hughes caps Olympic career with bronze

Clara Hughes talks often about the importance of being in the moment.

In the last Olympic race of a truly remarkable career, she demonstrated exactly what she means.

The last four years leading to these home Olympics were a struggle for the 37-year-old from Winnipeg. There was a near fatal car accident and other calamities. On the ice, many times she felt like she didn't know how to skate anymore and that she might be better off quitting.

But not this time, not when she grabbed a bronze medal to put an exclamation mark on one of the finest Olympic careers ever in this country. Never did bronze have such a golden shine.

Hughes was calm when she went to the line. Her longtime coach Xiuli Wang gave her a specific instruction: 'Breathe.”

Several deep breaths later and Hughes was off. It was something to see, the complete focus and total absorption in what she was doing.

“It was pure at-oneness, I would say,” said a beaming Hughes afterwards. “Sometimes you feel outside yourself when that's happening and I've had that experience, I've had great races and I've felt like I was on the outside looking in.

She had help, too: a raucous crowd of 6,000-plus in attendance, including her mom Maureen, watching her skate in person for the first time ever, along with her husband Peter Guzman and his mom Mica. They were part of the “circle of strength” Hughes had around her.

“She (her mom) said to me some time ago, 'Clara, I'm going to be there. If I have to stand outside of that rink, I'm going to be there,” said Hughes. “I told her I probably could get her a ticket.”

The Olympic defending champion at this distance kept her attention on what her stride felt like, how it felt to build the turns and the way she'd have to dig deep in those final five laps. The trick was that while she wanted to go harder, she knew she'd lose her rhythm if she did.

“For the first time in a long, long time, I didn't fight myself on the ice.”

But she had a lot of fight. That has defined her for her entire 20-year sporting career.

“She never gives up,” said Wang, her pride in her athlete so evident.

When Hughes crossed the line, she absolutely revelled in her performance, pumping her fist, waving to the crowd, giving Wang a huge hug and blowing kisses to her mom.

The favourites were still to come – Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic, who'd win gold, and Stephanie Beckert, who took silver – but people kept telling Hughes she'd be on the podium.

As for the future, Hughes has her eye on a career in broadcasting, but for the present time plans to buy a kayak on Granville Island in the next few days so she can use it on adventures with her husband. Hughes was a colour commentator on cycling for CBC at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“It's more fun being on your side, but there is nothing like this,” she said. “There is nothing like this. The thing working in broadcasting in China showed me is it's a really special thing to be an Olympic athlete.

“I thought 'I get to do this one more time.' And I never lost sight of what 'this' is. Because when it's over, it's over. And now it's actually over. Wow.”

Speed Skating: Korea's Lee gifted 10,000m gold after Kramer is disqualified

Korea's Lee Seung-Hoon was gifted the men's 10,000m speed skating gold medal on Tuesday after Dutchman Sven Kramer was sensationally disqualified after coming over the line first.

Kramer, who won 5,000m gold last week, was the hot favourite and he lived up to his billing by powering around the Richmond Oval more than four seconds faster than Lee in the gruelling race.

He thought he had won but a lane infringement with eight laps left saw him disqualified, ending his dream of completing the first golden treble by an Olympic speedskater since Norway's Johann Olav Koss in 1994.


Kramer, the 23-year-old son of two-time Dutch Olympic speedskater Yep Kramer, threw his goggles down in disgust on Tuesday and was a forlorn figure as Lee celebrated an unexpected victory.

Lee took the title in 12:58.55, a new Olympic record, 3.52sec second clear of Skobrev and was ecstatic.

"I'm really happy that I'm one of the first Asian skaters to win this race," said the Korean.

"I don't think I will be able to sleep now that I have the gold medal."

Asked about the Kramer controversy, he said: "I want to compete with Sven again."

The victory meany Korea became the most successful speed skating nation in Vancouver, after Mo Tea-Bum won the Men's 500m title and Lee Sang-Hwa captured the women's 500m.

Kramer blamed his coach Gerard Kemkers for giving him the wrong information.

"Usually, I don't want to blame anyone else, but this time I can't do anything else. I wanted to go on the outer lane then just before the cone Gerard shouted 'inner lane,' I thought he's probably right and went to the inner lane," he said.

Kramer's Dutch teammate De Jong said it was a sad end, but he was happy to pick up a medal.

"It happens in speed skating," he said of Kramer. "It is really hard to skate that fast and he missed the crossover. It really sucks."

Skobrev paid tribute to the Dutch star, saying he deserved to win.

"Sven in my eyes is almost a hero. He's young, he's got talent and he's a hard worker. I tried to learn and follow him during this event," he said.

"It's not only about racing, or how you are in shape, your muscles, your feeling, it's also about your head, clear thinking and analysing every lap. Everybody sort of knew that he should come first and he certainly deserves the gold."

Olympic Medal: W 5,000m Speed Skating

RICHMOND, British Columbia, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic won the Olympic gold medal Wednesday in the women's 5,000-meter speed skating race.

It was the second gold of the Vancouver Olympics and third medal overall for Sablikova. She won the 3,000-meter event and was third over 1,500 meters.

Stephanie Beckert of Germany took the silver. The bronze went to Clara Hughes of Canada.

Beckert also finished second to Sablikova in the 3,000 race.

Dutch coach Kemkers takes blame for Kramer's DQ in men's 10,000m speed skating

One day after Sven Kramer was disqualified in the men's 10,000 meters speed skating of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, the Dutch coach Gerard Kemkers said in Vancouver on Wednesday that he takes the blame for Kramer's mistake.

South Korean Lee Seung-Hoon, a surprised winner in the 5,000m 10 days ago at the Richmond Olympic Oval, lifted the title after Kramer's disqualification.

Kramer blamed his coach Kemkers after the race on Tuesday: "Usually, I don't want to blame anyone else, but this time I can't do anything else," he said. "I wanted to go on the outer lane then just before the cone, Gerard shouted 'inner lane.' I thought 'he's probably right' and went to the inner lane."

Coach Kemkers said: "I made my decision based on a series of observations. With these observations in mind, I was convinced Sven was making a mistake and that I was saving him from this mistake."

"More often than not, everything works out fine. This time it didn't, with terrible consequences. If that gives people the image of me as a scapegoat, then I guess I just have to swallow that," Kemkers said.

"In a lot of races it went fine. This time it went wrong. Gerard was alone. Normally there is someone behind the boarding that can write things down, but that is just not possible here with the camera rails. But I do not want to use that as an excuse," Kramer said.

Kemkers agreed:"During our collaboration Sven has been undefeated for four years. He would still be undefeated right now if yesterday hadn't happened. I have no doubts that yesterday's situation makes us better and that we will get more motivation out of this," Kemkers said.

"It is not going to help anyone if I tear the whole place down. I am not the person that will stay angry for a long time. It is not going to help me, the team or Gerard."

coach's blunder costs Dutchman Sven Kramer second speed-skating gold

A blunder of quite Olympian magnitude left a nation wailing after a momentary lapse of concentration cost Holland's speed skating colossus Sven Kramer a gold medal in Vancouver. Worse still, it was not even his lapse of concentration.

Kramer, whose fame in Holland eclipses even that of football heroes like Robin van Persie as he had been on course for a golden hat-trick here, has been left blaming his coach for the elementary mistake which saw him blow victory in the 10,000 metres, an event in which he had not been beaten for three years.

Kemkers, who was momentarily distracted as he recorded split times, looked up and shouted incorrectly to Kramer that he should cross over into the inside lane. Instinctively, the skater took his cue – and headed for sporting calamity.

The 5,000m champion was powering majestically towards victory with just five laps left in the Richmond Olympic Oval when a fateful call from his coach Gerard Kemkers caused his disqualification.

He continued the race and crossed the finish line four seconds faster than anyone else, only for Kemkers, head in hands, to break the worst, much to the despair of the vast oranje-clad army of fans.

"My world has collapsed," cried Kemkers."This is the worst moment of my career. It was my mistake." The blunder handed gold to Korea's utterly dumbfounded Seung-Hoon Lee.

Speed skating-Gold medallist Martina Sablikova

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Factbox on Czech Republic’s Martina Sablikova who won the gold medal in the women’s speed skating 5,000m at the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Wednesday.

Age: 22

Place of birth: Nove Mesto Na Morave, Czech Republic

Residence: Velky Osek, Czech Republic

Previous Olympic results:

Gold, 2010 Winter Olympics, 3000m

Bronze, 2010 Winter Olympics, 1500m

Fourth place, 2006 Winter Olympics, 5000m

Seventh place, 2006 Winter Olympics, 3000m

Career achievements:

3x Gold, 2009, 2008, 2007 World Single Distances Championships, 5000m

Gold, 2007 World Single Distances Championships, 3000m

Gold, 2009 World Allround Championships, small combination

2x Gold, 2010, 2007 European Championships, small combination

BACKGROUND

Sablikova began skating in 1998 and has also been competing in road cycling since 2007. Her younger brother, Milan, is also a speed skater.

A lack of artifical ice tracks in her homeland has forced her to train on short tracks or travel abroad. In 2007 she won the national speed skating title competing on a frozen lake.

Her Vancouver victory in the 3000m made her just the second Czech woman to win a Winter Games gold following cross-country skier Katerina Neumannova in 2006.

Killer Whale Drowns Trainer At Seaworld Show

Dawn Brancheau, 40, was giving a lecture in front of hundreds of people after a display at the Shamu Stadium in Orlando when the whale is said to have pulled her in.

A killer whale has dragged a trainer to her death during a public performance at the SeaWorld amusement park in Florida. Skip related content

"She was rubbing the killer whale's head, and (it) grabbed her and pulled her in," said Chuck Tompkins, Corporate Curator of Zoological Operations at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.

Seconds after the incident, sirens went off and SeaWorld employees rushed in to evacuate the audience.

"We don't know what was going through the killer whale's head. It just got done doing a wonderful session with Dawn... his behavior was great ... that's the reason that she was rubbing his head," Mr Tompkins said.

Dan Brown, president of SeaWorld Orlando, said Ms Brancheau was one of the park's most experienced trainers having worked there for 16 years, and said she drowned.

The Orlando Sentinel said the whale has a controversial past.

Tillikum, known as 'Tilly' was blamed for the drowning of one of his trainers in 1991 while he was performing at Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia, the newspaper said.

Authorities said the man, who had either snuck into SeaWorld after it had shut or hidden until past closing time probably drowned after suffering hypothermia in the water.

A former SeaWorld employee told the Sentinel Tillikum is usually kept apart from the other whales and trainers are not allowed to get into the water with him because of his past.


Killer whale's deadly attack on Sea World trainer


A killer whale has killed a senior Sea World trainer in the United States, pulling her into the water while visitors looked on.

Police confirmed the trainer was Dawn Brancheau, 40, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

The trainer was grabbed by the waist while she was standing next to the tank and thrashed around in the killer whale tank at Sea World's park in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday afternoon, a witness told Florida television news channel Local 6.

But Sea World executive Chuck Tompkins said the experienced trainer was pulled into the water by the whale, a five-tonne male orca named Tilikum, the Sentinel reported.

Tilikum means "friend" in the Native American language Chinook.

"It is with great sadness that I report one of our most experienced trainers has drowned in an incident with one of our whales this afternoon," Sea World park manager Dan Brown said.

"We have never in the history of our parks experienced an incident like this and all of our standard operating procedures will be under review.

Sea World had not released the trainer's name but the Sentinel reported Ms Brancheau had been at the park since February 1994.

Witness Victoria Biniak told the station she saw the attack from a public viewing area and also said the whale's name was Tilikum, or Telly for short.

"The trainer was explaining different things about the whale and then the trainer that was down there walked away from the window," Ms Biniak said.

Ms Biniak said the attack was violent enough for Ms Brancheau's shoe to fly off.

Brazilian tourist Joao Lucia De Costa Sobrinho and his girlfriend told the Sentinel they were at an underwater viewing area when they saw a whale with a person in its mouth.

Ms Blancheau was bleeding from the face or mouth and the whale turned her over and over as it swam, Mr Sobrinho said.

A Sea World spokeswoman told CNN the incident did not occur during a performance.

Visitors were evacuated form the area and the whale show was cancelled, but the park was not shut down, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Part-time trainer Keltie Byrne, 20, drowned after slipping into Tilikum's tank at Canadian park Sealand of the Pacific in 1991.

An account of the incident in a Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society book published a year later said Ms Byrne was dragged around the pool, mostly underwater, as Tilikum and two other killer whales played with her.

Tilikum was moved to Sea World following the incident.

In 1999, the body of a naked man was found, scratched and bruised, draped over Tilikum.

"For years, PETA has been calling on Sea World to stop confining ocean going mammals to an area that to them is like the size of a bathtub, and we have also been asking the park to stop forcing the animals to perform silly tricks over and over again," spokesman David Perle said.

"It’s not surprising when these huge, smart animals lash out."

Whale expert Nancy Black told Local 6 that Tilikum could have been playing in the latest attack and did not intend to hurt the trainer.

Killer whale attacks, kills trainer at Orlando SeaWorld as horrified spectators watch

A SeaWorld killer whale snatched a trainer from a poolside platform Wednesday in its jaws and thrashed the woman around underwater, killing her in front of a horrified audience. It marked the third time the animal had been involved in a human death.

Trainer Dawn Brancheau, 40, was rubbing Tilikum after a noontime show when the 12,000-pound whale grabbed her and pulled her in, said Chuck Tompkins, head of animal training at all SeaWorld parks. Park officials say the veteran trainer drowned.

Skaggs said he heard that during an earlier show the whale was not responding to directions. Others who attended the earlier show said the whale was behaving like an ornery child.

He left with his wife and didn't find out until later that the trainer had died. The retired couple from Michigan had been among some stragglers in the audience who had stayed to watch the animals and trainers when the accident occurred.

Two other witnesses told the Orlando Sentinel that the whale grabbed the woman by the upper arm and tossed her around in its mouth while swimming rapidly around the tank. Brazilian tourist Joao Lucio DeCosta Sobrinho and his girlfriend were at an underwater viewing area when they suddenly saw a whale with a person in its mouth.

Because of his size and the previous deaths, trainers were not supposed to get into the water with Tilikum, and only about a dozen of the park's 29 trainers worked with him. Brancheau had more experience with the 30-year-old whale than most, and was one of the park's most experienced trainers overall.

A SeaWorld spokesman said Tilikum was one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer in 1991 after the woman lost her balance and fell in the pool at Sealand of the Pacific near Victoria, British Columbia.

Steve Huxter, who was head of Sealand's animal care and training department then, said Wednesday he's surprised it happened again. He says Tilikum was a well-behaved, balanced animal.

Tilikum was also involved in a 1999 death, when the body of a man who had sneaked by SeaWorld security was found draped over him. The man either jumped, fell or was pulled into the frigid water and died of hypothermia, though he was also bruised and scratched by Tilikum.

According to a profile of Brancheau in the Sentinel in 2006, she was one of SeaWorld Orlando's leading trainers. It was a trip to SeaWorld at age 9 that made her want to follow that career path. Dawn was the youngest of six children who grew up near Cedar Lake, Ind.

Brancheau worked her way into a leadership role at Shamu Stadium during her career with SeaWorld, starting at the Sea Lion & Otter Stadium before spending 10 years working with killer whales, the newspaper said.

Brancheau's older sister, Diane Gross, said the trainer wouldn't want anything done to the whale because she loved the animals like children. The trainer was married and didn't have children.

"She loved the whales like her children, she loved all of them," said Gross, of Schererville, Ind. "They all had personalities, good days and bad days."

"I wouldn't jump to conclusions," he said. "These are very large powerful marine mammals. They exhibit this type of behavior in the wild.

Tompkins, the SeaWorld head trainer, said of the whale: "We have no idea what was going through his head."

Mike Wald, a spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration office in Atlanta, said his agency had dispatched an investigator from Tampa.

The trainer, Kenneth Peters, escaped with a broken foot. The 17-foot orca that attacked him was the dominant female of SeaWorld San Diego's seven killer whales. She had attacked Peters two other times, in 1993 and 1999.

In 2004, another whale at the company's San Antonio park tried to hit one of the trainers and attempted to bite him. He also escaped.

Wednesday's attack was the second time in two months that an orca trainer was killed at a marine park. On Dec. 24, 29-year-old Alexis Martinez Hernandez fell from a whale and crushed his ribcage at Loro Parque on the Spanish island of Tenerife. Park officials said the whale, a 14-year-old named Keto, made an unusual move as the two practiced a trick in which the whale lifts the trainer and leaps into the air.

SeaWorld suspends killer whale show in San Diego

A spokesman for SeaWorld in San Diego says its killer whale show has been suspended after a trainer was killed by a whale in Orlando, Fla.

Spokesman David Koontz said Wednesday he doesn't know when the show will resume.

It is not clear if the killer whale show has been suspended at SeaWorld's San Antonio location, which is closed until the weekend.

A killer whale attacked a SeaWorld Orlando trainer who slipped or fell into its tank. The trainer drowned in front of a horrified audience.

Did trainer slip into killer whale tank or was she pulled in?

A 40-year-old trainer was killed Wednesday by a killer whale at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, officials said. The trainer, Dawn Brancheau, was in the whale holding area about 2 p.m. when she somehow ended up the tank and was fatally injured by the whale, officials said.

A witness told CNN affiliate WKMG-TV that the whale approached the glass side of the 35-foot-deep tank at Shamu Stadium, jumped up and grabbed the trainer by the waist, shaking her so violently that her shoe came off. A SeaWorld employee, who asked not to be identified, also described the incident the same way.

The whale's name is Tillikum, the SeaWorld employee said. The same whale has been linked previously to two other deaths.

"One of our most experience animal trainers drowned" in the accident, said Dan Brown, vice president and general manager of SeaWorld Orlando.

"We'll make our findings known in due course," he said. "We've never in the history of our parks experienced an incident like this. All standard operating procedures will be reviewed."

"During the show, everything was perfectly fine," she told CNN.

Afterward, "we went down to look at his full body underneath the isolation tank," she said. "Everything seemed calm and OK. The trainer was laying down on him and kissing his nose and rubbing him."

But the scene changed quickly, she said.

Jeffrey Ventre, a former SeaWorld trainer, described Brancheau as "a great trainer" and Tillikum as "a great animal" who has sired some 13 offspring.

"He's huge, he's impressive; people just see him and they go 'Wow!' He's a money stream as well."

Fred Felleman, a marine consultant in Seattle, Washington, said keeping the social animals in what amounts to isolation is bound to cause problems.

"What happened is something that happens; it happens in our line of work," he said. "They are dangerous animals; they're wild animals."

He added that he hopes SeaWorld continues with the work it does with killer whales.

But a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called the death "a tragedy that didn't have to happen."

Jaime Zalac said the organization had called on SeaWorld "to stop confining oceangoing mammals to an area that to them is like the size of a bathtub, and we have also been asking the park to stop forcing the animals to perform silly tricks over and over again. It's not surprising when these huge, smart animals lash out."

The 11,000-pound, 22-foot-long whale was "not accustomed to people being in his tank" and "wouldn't have realized he was dealing with a very fragile human being," Solomons said at the time.

"He may have been a victim of what a whale would call horseplay -- just playing around," Solomons said.

Tillikum and two other whales also were involved in the drowning of a trainer at a Victoria, British Columbia, marine park in 1991.


Wilbon Reax To Tony K. Suspension, “Bristol Culture”

Michael Wilbon guested this morning on the Dan Patrick Radio Show and gave his first on-the-record remarks about the two week-suspension of his PTI co-host Tony Kornheiser. (Kornheiser was suspended yesterday by ESPN for two weeks for comments he made about Hannah Storm’s clothes.)

Wilbon: “I didn’t hear the show (Kornheiser’s comments) … as you know, I’ve never been part of the Bristol culture. I don’t know how these things work. I don’t know what is affiliated and what is owned. I don’t inquire that way I maintain plausible deniability. I feel bad about the whole thing. Hopefully he’ll be back in the seat.”

Redskins Owner Dan Snyder owns the ESPN-branded radio station where Kornheiser does his D.C. radio show and the PTI host is said to be close friends with Snyder.

Sympathy for Tony Kornheiser


ESPN has thrown Tony Kornheiser, co-host of the network's Pardon the Interruption show, into the penalty box for the unflattering things he said last week on his Washington, D.C., radio show about fellow ESPN broadcaster Hannah Storm. His suspension began on Monday, Feb. 22, even though he apologized to Storm in person and on-air, says USA Today.

Hannah Storm in a horrifying, horrifying outfit today. She's got on red go-go boots and a catholic school plaid skirt … way too short for somebody in her 40s or maybe early 50s by now. ... She's got on her typically very, very tight shirt. She looks like she has sausage casing wrapping around her upper body. … I know she's very good, and I'm not supposed to be critical of ESPN people, so I won't … but Hannah Storm … come on now! Stop! What are you doing? … She's what I would call a Holden Caulfield fantasy at this point.

Back in 1990, when I used my media column in Washington City Paper to ridicule Kornheiser's work in the Washington Post, he retaliated in his Sunday humor column by having a fictional lifestyle psychiatrist say, "Well, the symptoms were so obvious even my imbecile lab technician Shafer, whom we can't trust with anything more complicated than collecting the urine specimens, could see it."

In 2000, still working at the Post, Kornheiser got Dave McKenna canned as a Post sports stringer for denouncing, in a Washington City Paper piece, Kornheiser's essential "meanness."

In 2006, Kornheiser flipped out when Post Style reporter Paul Farhi panned Kornheiser's debut on Monday Night Football. In the next day's Post, Kornheiser shot back, "In critiquing my performance, I think what makes me happiest was that I didn't throw up. (Though if I had, I would have aimed at that putz in Style.)"

Funny he didn't apply that we're-all-on-the-same-team principle to his treatment of Storm.

Kornheiser is one of those guys whose ugly side is his only side. (See this David Carr column for more examples.) But the fact that ESPN has suddenly taken to punishing Kornheiser for being an oozing bag of pus and venom raises more questions about the network than it does about the employee. I suspect that the network didn't object strongly to Kornheiser's critique of Hannah Storm's red go-go boots and Catholic-school plaid skirt (captured on Slide 7 of this Bleacher Report slide show). Nor do I think that his comments that she wears her skirt too tight or that she dresses younger than is appropriate for her age really infuriated ESPN.

I dunno, but if the network is worried that sex talk will damages its reputation, it's sending in its cavalry a little late. See this allegation of sexual harassment at ESPN, or this blowup, or this one, or this firing of a baseball analyst for having an affair with a young production assistant.

Much—but not all—of sports radio relies on frat-boy humor to carry the freight between serious discussions about teams, games, and players. If Kornheiser's TV network bosses are genuinely upset about what their employee said about another employee on the radio, they should fire him. But they won't fire him, because they aren't actually upset. The ESPN brass is punishing Kornheiser for being Kornheiser when they should be punishing themselves for running their network like a high-school locker room.


Tony Kornheiser - Bio

In 2006, Kornheiser became just the third non-former player in 37 years to join the MNF booth, along with the legendary Howard Cosell and comedian Dennis Miller. Teamed with Mike Tirico and Joe Theismann, Kornheiser demonstrated his unique ability to inform and entertain and helped MNF become the most-watched program in cable television history.


Kornheiser and fellow Washington Post sports columnist Michael Wilbon have co-hosted Pardon the Interruption -- which is aired Monday-Friday 5:30-6 p.m. ET -- since the show’s debut on Sept. 22, 2001. Highlighted by the type of contentious but good-natured verbal sparring that the two engaged in for years at the Post, the program has increased ratings and viewership numbers each year since its inception with its unique, fast-paced, wide-ranging and humorous discussion of the day’s most important and interesting news in sports and more.


In addition to his ESPN and Washington Post jobs, Kornheiser returned to the radio airwaves in February 2007 as host of the popular "Tony Kornheiser Show" on Washington Post Radio (1500 AM and 107.7 FM, weekday mornings 8:30-10:30 a.m. and rebroadcast 10:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m.) in the nation’s capital. The program also airs on XM Satellite Radio.


Kornheiser, who started at the Washington Post in 1979, remains a columnist there today. In 2007, both he and Wilbon received the prestigious Eugene Meyer Award, which recognizes employees who exemplify the principles embodied by the paper's former owner and publisher -- journalism, business sense and hard work. Kornheiser has been a sports columnist there since 1984 and for many years also wrote for the Style section, attracting a large following for his humorous musings on topics ranging from presidential politics to his teenaged children, his elderly father and the behavior of his dog. These columns have been compiled in three books – Pumping Irony, Bald as I Wanna Be, and Back for More Cash.


He began his career in journalism at Newsday and the New York Times. He is married and has two children.

The Tony Kornheiser Show

The Tony Kornheiser Show is a sports radio talk show out of Washington, D.C. hosted by Tony Kornheiser, which appeared on WTEM from 1992 to 1997; on ESPN Radio between 1998 and 2004; back on WTEM from 2004 to 2006; and on WTWP and then WWWT in 2007 and 2008; and back on WTEM since September 8, 2009.

When The Tony Kornheiser Show launched on May 25, 1992, the show was originally produced by Mitch Levy. The sports director on WTEM, Andy Pollin, was both sidekick and news reporter of the show. Gregory Thomas Garcia (who would later create the sitcom My Name is Earl) worked as a board op on the show, and later ascended to producer of the show. When Garcia left the show, Gary Braun became his producer.

Kornheiser dislikes "how are you doing?" to start a call; he prefers that callers and e-mailers have funny and creative comments: John from D.C. always said "T.K. Stack Money" when he called in; Steve the Sycophant from Virginia, always said "Tony, my liege and idol" on the phone.

When Andy Pollin did the news update, Kornheiser often interrupted him with his comments on the news. During the first few years, Kornheiser would let a then WTEM traffic reporter Janet Elliott (then called Janet Delaney or Janet O'Connor, and also known as Janet "From Another Planet") sing show tunes in a segment and then praise her.[1] During the show, the sales representatives of WTEM sent free food to the studio, which prompted Kornheiser to say, "This show is about free food." If the food was not delivered on time, Kornheiser would go ballistic on the air.

Late in this tenure, Kornheiser started to read emails from his listeners. This segment was called Tony's Mailbag. The jingle introducing the segment was sung by Gary Braun, a member of the original incarnation of the show. He always ended his radio show by saying "If you're out on your bike tonight, do wear white" as a tribute to the Rolling Stones.

ESPN Radio (1998-2004)
The Tony Kornheiser Show on ESPN Radio debuted on January 5, 1998. The show aired between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET. The original producer was Denis Horgan, Jr. and the sports update was anchored by Dan 'The Duke' Davis. Because of Kornheiser's duties in The Washington Post, The Tony Kornheiser Show had two studios: one in Washington, D.C. where Kornheiser and Pollin lived and the other in Bristol, Connecticut, where the producing staff and Davis stayed.

On September 13, 1999, ESPN radio moved The Tony Kornheiser Show to his favorite 10 a.m.-1 p.m. ET slot to make room for The Dan Patrick Show. WTEM accommodated the move by reducing The Jim Rome Show to 2 hours. Jim Rome was furious at the move. He voiced his displeasure on the air, attacked Kornheiser and demanded WTEM give him his third hour back. Kornheiser responded to Rome's attack by his usual sarcastic humor. The producing staff of The Tony Kornheiser Show even played several Rome parodies. The "Snackdown" was one of the most famous parodies in the history of The Tony Kornheiser Show. Two phrases, "Clahhsic!" and "Epic!", both said in a tone mocking Rome, became the staples of The Tony Kornheiser Show. Also, Kornheiser's nickname "Mr. Kornmissioner" was derived from this segment. Kornheiser also mocks Rome's "tour stops" from time to time on his show, and states that Rome's "takes" are not his own opinions, but rather made-up opinions from staff members that he pays to write his takes.

Although The Tony Kornheiser Show is a sports-talk show, Kornheiser spends a lot of segments discussing current events, music, entertainment and life surrounding himself, including his dog, Maggie. During Fridays Tony would discuss movies with either Stephen Hunter or Joe Barber of WTOP. His love of the music in 1960s insprired a radio segment called Old Guy Radio. His other-stuff talk makes his talk show much more interesting when there is no big sports event. In essence, his non-sports talk becomes a talk show version of his Washington Post Style Section columns. A collection of memorable clips of witty, sarcastic, or funny sayings from famous movies, television shows, callers, interviewees, and cast members have been turned into sound bites that are played regularly on the show, depending on the situation and circumstance.[5]

The on-air TV "heads" were featured prominently on the show in a comedic game called the ESPN Fantasy Head League. It is based on fantasy sports leagues, except the athletes consist only of ESPN/ABC sports personalities. The people who appeared regularly on the show (Andy, Phil Ceppaglia, Kevin Stanfield, Ray Necci and Kornheiser himself) participated in a mock fantasy draft of the on-air personalities, which featured people such as Dan Patrick, Mike Tirico, Stuart Scott, Dana Jacobson, and Neil Everett. Each person on the show would earn points for the types of shows each head appeared on. More points were given to higher profile spots, such as the 11 p.m. SportsCenter, or an ABC Sports program. Proof of his aggitative nature occurred during his second mock fantasy draft. Management heard about the draft and immediately pulled the activity while Tony's show was in commercial.

Two popular internet show segments involved Rich Eisen telling the Bea Arthur joke, and Kornheiser ripping an angry emailer who proclaimed that he hated Tony's show. Eisen heard the Bea Arthur joke at the Friar's Club comedy roast of Jerry Stiller in 1999, where the joke was told by Jeffrey Ross.[7] Kornheiser's tirade against the angry emailer, red89hawk@aol.com, was peppered with foul language and vitriolic sentiment, a hallmark of the Internet Show, and Kornheiser's rants in general. The red89hawk segment also featured an E-mail Jihad, a barrage of angry emails from listeners directed at the person criticizing Kornheiser. The Internet Show was a forum of real emotions from real people engaging in informal conversations, and would regularly contain explicit topics and foul language. As Kornheiser once said during the Rich Eisen internet show segment, "That's why we always say, this is the X-Rated portion of the show."

WTEM (2004-2006) and Extreme XM (2005-2006)
# Marc Sterne (producer, who is nicknamed "Nigel" and uses a British accent. His authenticity was questioned on March 24, 2006, but had proof that he was from England, showing his English Badge on Channel 8. However, the authenticity of his daily appearances on Channel 8 is also in extreme doubt, so the mystery remains). Actually, the origins of the "Nigel" character can be traced to an episode of the show in which Tony was reflecting on a story he'd seen the night before that was similar to the kind of contests on Man vs. Beast, a Mr. Tony favorite. Gary Braun said that he and Marc Sterne had reconstructed the origins of story (it was something from England involving midgets and lions or something like that). Braun and Sterne then launched into a very funny skit in which essentially, this story was the result of an English bar bet. But, so taken was Tony with Sterne's British accent that he asked him to read all the sports updates in that accent. He nicknamed that character "Nigel" and after a while, ceased referring to Sterne by his actual name, and referred to him exclusively as "Nigel". From time to time, actual Englishmen would write into the show asking after Nigel's credentials saying things like: "He sounds a little like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, is he for real?" at which point Tony, ever the one to push the inside joke, insisted that not only was Nigel for real, but he was in the country illegally. This incident is typical of the show, in that it is a long-running inside joke that the listener has to have been in on for some time. (The mocking of Jim Rome and the constant references to the non-existent simulcast on Channel 8, two of the others.)

During this time, the holdovers from the ESPN message board days, referred to as bloggers by Kornheiser, held a members-only golf tournament on August 1, 2005. Kornheiser spent time in the months before the tournament, which he dubbed "The First and Last Annual Nerds in Paradise Golf Closed Invitational" (derided by Gary Braun using the acronym "FAGLAP"), trying to make deals with golf courses and hotels in the Washington DC area for the best deal. Finally, the winning host emerged as Reston National Golf Club, in Reston, Virginia. They, led by hotel manager Mark Driscoll, gave the bloggers the "Mr. Tony Treatment," including an extravagant dinner after the golfing that evening. To the shock of people like Andy Polley and Kevin Stanfield, noted curmudgeon Kornheiser was visibly moved by the whole affair. Some of the better-known bloggers that attended were AJ in Nashville, Korry in Virginia and Brandon Borzelli, who Kornheiser noted wrote the funniest emails in the show's history[citation needed].


Tony Kornheiser

Anthony Irwin "Tony" Kornheiser (pronounced /ˈkɔrnhaɪzər/; born July 13, 1948) is an American sportswriter and former columnist for The Washington Post, as well as a radio and television talk show host. Kornheiser has hosted The Tony Kornheiser Show on radio in various forms since 1992, co-hosted Pardon the Interruption on ESPN since 2001 with Michael Wilbon, and served as an analyst for ESPN's Monday Night Football from 2006-2008.

Kornheiser is the only child of Ira (1910-2000) and Estelle Kornheiser (d. 1968).[2] Kornheiser grew up in a Jewish household, and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at a Conservative synagogue. Kornheiser currently resides in Washington, D.C., as well as Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, with his wife Karril.[3][4] They have two children, Michael and Elizabeth.

Print career
Kornheiser began his career in New York City, where he wrote for Newsday between 1970 and 1976, The New York Times between 1976 and 1979, and also worked as a teacher. Kornheiser joined The Washington Post in 1979 as a general assignment reporter in Style and Sports.[6] He became a full-time sports columnist in 1984. He also wrote columns for the Post's Style Section between November 12, 1989, and September 30, 2001.

In 1991, Kornheiser created a string of now-famous Bandwagon columns to describe the Washington Redskins' Super Bowl run that year.[7] He started the idea when the Redskins trounced the Detroit Lions 45-0. He officially unveiled the first Bandwagon column when the team had an undefeated 4-0 record. From then on, the Bandwagon column appeared weekly. When the Redskins advanced to Super Bowl XXVI, Kornheiser and his Post colleagues Jeanne McManus and Norman Chad rode a thirty-three-foot recreational vehicle decorated as the Bandwagon for a 1,200-mile journey to Minneapolis, Minnesota.[8]

In 2005, Kornheiser started to write short columns called A Few Choice Words with his photo in the Post's Sports Section. These short, sports-related columns appeared on the second page of the Post's Sports section and were much shorter than the full-length columns Kornheiser used to write for the paper. This was the first time that the Post displayed a columnist's photo beside his column. He called these short columns "columnettes." He usually wrote three "columnettes" per week unless he had other duties. He did not write columns between April 26, 2006, and August 7, 2006, to prepare as an analyst of ESPN's Monday Night Football.

"But I don't do much for the paper anymore." Kornheiser had not written a regular column for the paper's print edition since 2006.[13] However, Wilbon and Tony continued to tape a "Talking Points" mini online TV feature for the Washington Post until June 3, 2009 when an installment termed the final one was posted on the Post's site. In it Michael Wilbon says he thinks there will be further installments while Kornheiser seems certain it is a permanent decision management has made.

Radio career

He hosted The Tony Kornheiser Show first locally on WTEM, better known as Sports Talk 980, in Washington, D.C. between May 25, 1992, and November 14, 1997. The show was then syndicated by ESPN radio between January 5, 1998, and March 26, 2004. He was back on WTEM locally between November 10, 2004, and April 28, 2006. His show was once carried by XM Satellite Radio between February 28, 2005, and April 28, 2006.

After completing the 2006 season on ESPN's Monday Night Football, Kornheiser signed with WTWP, Washington Post Radio, to relaunch his radio show on February 20, 2007.[14] The show aired live from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and was then replayed from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. XM Radio carried his show on a thirty-minute delay, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., beginning March 5, 2007, on XM Sports Nation, Channel 144.

[15] Kornheiser went on hiatus from the show following the June 28, 2007, broadcast because of his Monday Night Football duties. The show was hosted by David Burd and included the same supporting cast. The show was called The Tony Kornheiser Show Starring David Burd during the hiatus. Kornheiser returned to the show as the full-time host from January 21, 2008, to June 27, 2008. The show aired live from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and was replayed from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m on WWWT, and on XM Sports Nation, XM channel 144 from 8:15 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.[16] He announced during this period in 2008 that he would not be back on the radio until he was done with Monday Night Football.

Television career
He appeared on a local weekly Washington Redskins TV show during the NFL football season on Washington's Channel 50 in the early 1980s with Pete Wysocki, a popular former Redskins LB and local hero, which was televised from a local restaurant/bar in Washington, D.C. called "Champions".

He was also a panelist on Full Court Press hosted by George Michael on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. during the NFL off-season until that show was canceled in December 2008 due to budget cuts.[18] He sometimes guest-hosted Redskins Report on WRC when Michael was away.

Pardon the Interruption
His lively segments with colleague Michael Wilbon on the radio and on Full Court Press, which mirrored their actual discussions in the press room of The Washington Post, sparked the idea for Pardon the Interruption well before the end of his run at ESPN Radio. As of August 2006, Pardon the Interruption is the highest rated sports talk show on ESPN.

ESPN's Tony Kornheiser Suspended Over Hannah Storm's Poor Fashion Sense

ESPN commentator Tony Kornheiser was suspended from on-air duty over a few light-hearted comments hurled at Hannah Storm for wearing the outfit pictured above. On Friday, Tony Kornheiser said this of Hannah Storm's outfit:

She's got on her typically very, very tight shirt. She looks like she has sausage casing wrapping around her upper body.I know she's very good, and I'm not supposed to be critical of ESPN people, so I won't. But Hannah Storm, come on now! Stop! What are you doing?'

'I apologize, unequivocally,'' Kornheiser said on his radio show. ''I'm a sarcastic, subversive guy ... I'm a troll, look at me. I have no right to insult what anybody looks like or what anybody wears. That, I think, should go without saying.'


We understand that, MAYBE, Kornheiser shouldn't have said all of that on the air... but look at the outfit... Hannah, maybe the go-go boots were a little too much to wear to work for a woman in her 50s!

ESPN's Tony Kornheiser Suspended

ESPN host Tony Kornheiser was given a two-week suspension by the network from his television talk show "Pardon the Interruption" for what were deemed as inappropriate comments he made on the radio about SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm's clothing.

"Hannah Storm in a horrifying, horrifying outfit today. She's got on red go-go boots and a catholic school plaid skirt ... way too short for somebody in her 40s or maybe early 50s by now...She's got on her typically very, very tight shirt. She looks like she has sausage casing wrapping around her upper body ... I know she's very good, and I'm not supposed to be critical of ESPN people, so I won't ... but Hannah Storm ... come on now! Stop! What are you doing? ... She's what I would call a Holden Caulfield fantasy at this point."

"Hurtful and personal comments such as these are not acceptable and have significant consequences," said John Skipper, ESPN's vice president for content, in a press release Tuesday. "Tony has been suspended from PTI for two weeks. Hannah is a respected colleague who has been an integral part of the success of our morning SportsCenter."

ESPN Suspends Host Tony Kornheiser for Bashing Fellow Anchor Hannah Storm

ESPN announced Tony Kornheiser, co-host of its weekday Pardon the Interruption, is on a two-week suspension following his snarky comments last week about an outfit worn by fellow ESPN host Hannah Storm.

Hurtful and personal comments such as these are not acceptable and have significant consequences," Executive Vice President for ESPN John Skipper said in a statement. "Hannah is a respected colleague who has been an integral part of the success of our morning SportsCenter."

"She looks like she has sausage casing wrapping around her upper body," he said. "I know she's very good, and I'm not supposed to be critical of ESPN... But Hannah Storm today? Come on now. Stop. What are you doing?"

Kornheiser apologized for his comments the next day on his radio show.

"I'm a sarcastic, subversive guy...I'm a troll, look at me. I have no right to insult what anybody looks like or what anybody wears. That, I think, should go without saying," he said.

ESPN host Tony Kornheiser suspended after attacking Hannah Storm's attire

Tony Kornheiser, host of ESPN’s weekday show Pardon The Interruption, has been suspended from the network for two weeks starting Monday, after bad-mouthing Hannah Storm’s choice of clothing, according to USA Today. On Friday, Kornheiser called what the ESPN anchor wore a “horrifying outfit” with “red go-go boots” and a skirt that was “way too short for somebody her age.

Hurtful and personal comments such as these are not acceptable and have significant consequences.” Since the incident, Kornheiser has both apologize on-air as well as to Storm personally and said that he wouldn’t be talking about the mishap in interviews.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Newcastle welcome

In New South Wales, is the city of Newcastle the second largest city. The main source of income and export of coal use. It is through the use of this source that the port and trade development in the area. This is also where most of the coal from Australia that captured the delivery to end users worldwide.

When he decided to move to Newcastle, there are some things you need to ensure you a solution and once in the city. Here are some of the things necessary to take into account the past of the time.

The register bank account. You must apply for a loan and the references to previous to the Australian institution, must be reviewed and assessed. When approved, a financial personality would be used if your life again. Here, you can pay bills and get a salary so this must be one of the first things you address if you move your new address.

Find shelter. This can be done in advance, even when immigration is still being processed. You would also engage the services of real estate consultant on the location and adequacy of shelter, although temporarily, decide for yourself and your family in Newcastle.

School Enrollment. It is mandatory that school children in Australia are looking good at school. Finding one would be easy when many schools in Newport for the class and decide on your own vehicle when you are financial stable.

Cost of living. The cost of living in Newcastle is very different than the cost of living in your own country. You must learn on the fly as your limited resources to begin in Australia. With a budget and find ways to save on the cost of the keys to living in Newcastle in early. It would also be on the way for you to move up and Newcastle.

As you can see, there are the things that you should be aware of and be on top of the time you complete the task of moving to Newcastle. This would help in the long run and listed in post online? With the move to Newcastle as long as you're ready, you can and will be able to realize their potential with the many options available to you Down Under.? All the points will help you to rebuild your life as an immigrant to New Castle in no time at all.

Chinese New Year in Melbourne


Eighty people make the 92-meter Dai Loong (Great Dragon) through Melbourne Chinatown to celebrate Chinese New Year - and expected to touch fortunate. All residents participate in the celebration, or of Chinese descent or not. Announced in February 2010 the Year of the Tiger and, as usual aspects, the festival of traditional and contemporary Chinese cultural events with dancing, food stalls, arts and crafts.

Always in a lively area of the city recognized the quality restaurants and things Asian, China come home to life with street stalls and entertainment on the site. Meanwhile, Australians of Chinese descent sent home observance necessary luck to the coming years. China was first attracted to Melbourne to the Gold Rush in the nearby Victorian towns, from around 1851. Ships sailing from Hong Kong and as a business flourished the newcomers miners supplies and went to join them. The area is now an integral part of the Melbourne courses, contributing to many festivals in the city during the year.

The origin
Chinese New Year is the first day of the Lunar calendar, and therefore this is also called the Lunar New Year. And it is also called the Festival of Spring because it is the beginning of the spring term, the first term of the 24 conditions on the moon canlendar. It is recorded that the Chinese started to celebrate Chinese New Year from about 2000 BC, who held the festivities at different times under different emperors. They began to celebrate the Chinese New Year on the first day of the Lunar calendar based on Emperor Wu Di almanac on the very Dynasty.

Legend says that the celebration of Chinese New Year of the Beast called Nian. The Nian Beast people came to eat at new year, until one man found the old way is to conquer. When people began to observe and celebrate Chinese New Year. The word "Nian" now has the same meaning as the Chinese New Year, as that is often used as the Chinese New Year. And people often use the term "Guo Nian", which could originally mean "passed or survived the Nian". Now everyone Guo Nian.

Melbourne China Town History
The discovery of gold in 1851 that attracted Chinese immigration to Victoria, on a large scale. Ships sailed to Australia from Hong Kong with its cargo of men had come looking for the "New Gold Mountain". The small but rapidly growing Chinese community in Little Bourke Street to meet the needs of the diggers - Lodging on the way to the gold fields, food, equipment and medicine. In the 1860s many public associations that Chinese began to purchase land in small rooms Bourke Street club shall serve as the meeting place for Chinese public buildings. From the early 1870s until the early twentieth one hundred, was the China Town stage of growth. For as gold dried up over the excavations, has not returned to China went back to China Town Melbourne, those who remained, represented the community but they were. She found work and established companies to provide local non-Chinese and Chinese markets. The 1880s were the days of "Marvelous Melbourne", when industry was booming sales.

The new labor laws, as well as the impact on the "White Australia Policy" introduced in China Town in 1901 plunged into darkness. He was no longer the residential refuge for the Chinese, the population fell as a side business. If the government relaxed immigration laws revitalized China Town in 1947 itself again, the distribution of the population over suburban Melbourne. The home extends China today are mainly along Little Bourke Street between Swanston St and Spring St furniture manufacturers and lodging houses are now gone, but eating houses and top restaurants now have their place in the streets and low - rise brick building and maintaining a historic character.

It is still a busy and important center of social and economic service to the Chinese community and proudly stands as one of the most popular places in the city Melbourne. During the year, there are traditional festivals and many activities, making China home popular destination for visitors in the middle of local, interstate and international.

Australia Visa Guaranteed High demand for Action.

A new survey has come up with interesting facts and figures on international students. The fourth part of the international students choose Australia as their study destination and want to become permanent residents there. Indeed, she studied to obtain Australian residency.

The survey was done on foreign students in 1600. About 10 Australian universities showed that 24 per cent of students studying there to get visas to Australia permanently. 5 years ago, on the same type of survey, 5 per cent of the students answered.

The survey results come at a time when concern the higher education abroad increased on the future of the sector under the rule of Australian immigration changes.

A few days ago, announced the Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans changes to the Australian Skilled Migration System. It also guaranteed the permanent visa available to foreign students a high demand occupation.

The changes were welcomed at most Australian universities. While some concerned with the reduction of student numbers and the impact on their income and economies. Education sector is the fastest growing sector of Australia is 17 billion U.S. dollar sales year.

International students surveyed rated the quality of Australian education as something worse than that of America and Great Britain, but Australia was a safer place to study than any other country, including in America, Britain, Canada and the New - Zealand.

The belief that Australia was a safe country for the most common reasons international students choose Australia, subsequently the belief that in a multicultural and tolerant society.

Immigrant Olympians

It is only the fourth day of the Olympics and Canada has won its first gold medal. Skier Alexandre Bilodeau make us proud to be a Canadian on Sunday!

Diversity is Canada already announced on the world stage at the Olympics. During the sporting history of our country, large enough athletes from other countries to live and play for Canada. Over the years many athletes had significant immigration won the Olympic gold medal for our nation.

Only they had Daniel Nestor, a Serbian immigrant who won a gold medal from the Netherlands in the 2000 Olympics. Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Mark Daniel Nestor of Canada migrate to their parents and their 4th birthday in 1976 and settled in Toronto, where he attended Northview Heights Secondary School due to a special sports program called APGA (Academic programs for talented athletes). The strong tennis player, Nestor 50 are doubles titles, including Tennis Masters Cup and four Grand Slam men's doubles title. Nestor is the record for longest game was in Wimbledon history, with a clock speed of just six hours and nine minutes. In conjunction with partner Sebastien Lareau, Nestor took the gold medal in men's tennis to double the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Today, Nestor is still competitive tennis in different competitions held worldwide.

Many immigrants, as a result of less than ideal conditions in their own country, choose to come to Canada seeking a better life.

A look at immigration in Canada

Immigration, the approach of people in the country for settlement there, has always had its central role in Canadian history. Compared with many other countries, immigration in Canada is generally considered as much easier than in other countries. Canada as a whole seems convenient place for immigrants to obtain naturalization. Since Canada is a relatively new country, the objective of Canadian officials had some time to infuse the country with different cultures and communities, and smooth immigration process this important role.

Until now, this system worked as Canada is very diverse group of ethnic groups, including 200 ethnic groups in total, including 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred Thousand each member. Of the 34 groups, 10 have more than 1,000,000 people, or 13.4% of the population. According to the 2001 census, the breakdown was Chinese (3.5% of the population), South Asia (3.1%), Black (2.2%), and Tagalog (1.0%).

As you can see, Canada is a multicultural nation is not true in reality their heritage can be traced to only one cultural background, race. Any current crop Canadians trace their heritage to one that truly Canadian nationals. The entire country is built on immigrants. Thanks to centuries of immigration, Canadians are very multicultural group and different people. While positive progress for many years, their attitudes towards change and immigration restrictions to the beginning, which can enter the country.

Usually, immigrants also have higher educational attainment than people born in Canada. But was employed in virtually every urban area, a much higher proportion of recent immigrants in jobs with lower skill requirements than the jobs held by Canadian-born citizens. The level of equality is still penetrate everyday society.

While most immigrants are welcome in Canada, most still have trouble finding work appropriate, and dealing with the language to overcome. Remains most of the people immigrating to Canada for its positive decision to come in Canada, in light of improved living standards. They are very happy with the higher quality of life, general peace and happiness, and their families the opportunity to offer a better future with greater hope of success.

According to Wikipedia, in 2001, there were 250,640 immigrants in Canada. The increased number of reason that Canada is the highest per capita immigration rate in the world. At any time, immigration has a greater role in Canadian history than in the twentieth century. Indeed, it would be without the immigrants in all areas of the country inhabited since the beginning of the century Canada culturally rich, prosperous and progressive nation it is today.

So much so, the temptation is to access in Canada that sometimes people take serious measures, even if those activities are against the law to obtain. The illegal immigration problem in Canada that affect the world in this country. Large that the problem is that recently, police found illegal Chinese immigrants smuggled into Canada in shipping crates in, Vancouver British Columbia port. Such incidents and the measures to highlight the risks that some immigrants are willing to take in Canada. Growing business is trying to smuggle immigrants into the country, many expected to receive political asylum. Unfortunately, the destiny of most of the illegal immigrants usually deportation. For most of the illegal immigrants is, the only option to show that Canadian officials should be protected by the status of refugees, illegal immigrants and often for granting refugee status when captured.

Indeed, approximately 18 million Chinese watch from the immigration of Chinese, and they will risk all to achieve this goal. Most illegal immigrants from the east coast of Fujian province of China and the most torque to the United States and Canada. As early as possible in Canada, many of the illegal Chinese immigrants in thiachóga large underground network, where they need to work to pay for their servitude contract workers on the smugglers. This system is a Chinese smuggling 10 billion U.S. business dollars.

Each year, falling about 600 illegal Chinese immigrants on the west coast of Canada's refugee status through the legal channels, because it has smugglers $ 60,000 per person to get them into the country.

For illegal immigrants moving to Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia is one popular destination. Metro Vancouver area is home more than two million people, and a high population makes it very easy for illegal immigrants to mix into the environment unseen and not known.

For legal immigrants, as well as Vancouver is the destination of the community, because of several important publications, fixed rate Vancouver as one of the three most livable cities in the world.

The large waves of immigrants, Canada has helped hundreds of years to develop the country far more in terms of multi ethnic and culture far richer and more vibrant. In future it is expected that immigrants will continue to play a vital role in influencing the social, economic and political culture of Canada's.

Frequently Asked Questions about Singapore Company incorporation

1. When Singapore acquired, what are the questions I should be considered after the shooting before I start my farm business?

After the start of Singapore company, you can start your business. However, you must do the following if it concerns you.

A. Opening bank accounts. You can choose to bank your corporate banking needs are being met. Letter of credit ie, multi-currencies, the bank site, banking hours, and check the other services they can provide, and so on.

B. If your company one or more licenses, you may need to obtain for the first relevant permits before you start your business.

C. Register for Goods & Services Tax (GST) if necessary. GST registration is not required except for annual turnover of over EUR 1 million. We can help you register for GST, so if you need.

D. If your business activity may be imported and exported goods, you must register and obtain a central registration (CR) number. CR is the number used in each import, export and transhipment permits, certificates and other documents by the Singapore Customs. We can help you ask for your number CR business needs.

E. If you intend to employ a foreign worker, including themselves, of conpany will be applied for employment pass (EP) to the person. We can help PD applications.

F. If you intend to local employees (Singapore citizens and residents of rental) you need to open a CPF account with the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board and a percentage of salaries of local workers who can contribute to the Board on a monthly basis as part of its pension fund. For more information, visit www.cpf.gov.sg. We can help your company to register and manage staff payroll CPF account, if necessary.

G. You must decide on your company's financial year end What can a date within 18 months from the date of incorporation for the company.

H. You must track your income and expenses (accounting) under Singapore accounting standards. Depending on the size of transactions, accountants we offer, on, weekly accounts monthly, quarterly or yearly

2. Is CPF contributions for foreign workers?

In the case of foreign workers, CPF contributions are not necessary. You pay only the salary agreed to for foreign workers, and it is.

3. Are we responsible for the personal taxation of foreign workers?

No need for personal tax wages of local workers or foreigners. The employees are directly responsible for their personal taxes.

4. What are the documents necessary for Singapore Company Registration?

In the case of a Singapore company to successfully integrate the following information and documents:

* Company Name * Address * Be Description shareholder business * * Voting Voting Voting Directors Company Secretary * * Memorandum and Articles of Association (MAA). * A copy of the Singapore identity card (IC) for Singapore Residents, or copy of passport, address proof of residence abroad, and other information for foreigners. * If the shareholder with the law, you must have a copy of the registration documents, including certificate of incorporation and Memorandum and Articles of Association.

In the event that there Español documents, formally endorsed the transfer set.

5. What are the requirements for registration on Singapore Company?

To continue with your Singapore company formation, must do the following:

a. Your company name for Singapore registered company, you should avoid choosing a company name:

* Equal to the existing local company itself, * offensive, obscene or offensive names, or * already booked.

b. Paid capital - minimum capital for the company paid a Singapore S $ 1. c. A Registered Address - A local Singapore address the need to integrate business Singapore. The registered address of residence or business address, but not PO Box. d. Governance - To start your company Singapore, at least one (1) The local director is required. The local director is either Singapore Citizens, Singapore Link to Resident, or Entre Pass, Employment Pass or Dependent Pass holder. E. Shareholders - the Singapore company to set up a limited-requires at least one (1) shareholder and a maximum of 50 shareholders. Foreign companies and individual shareholders of 100% of the shares. f. Company Secretary - Singapore Singapore Companies Act requires every limited company to have a Company Secretary within 6 months after its creation.

AsiaBiz team is committed to registering each company Singapore Employment Pass Singapore and handling requirements. We all treat the Stationery and qualified to guide you through every stage of implementation so that your case be forwarded to the department is working flawless. Transfer your case to us to save you time and money, and we can help prevent mistakes and control, our past experiences to maximize the success of your application could immigration.
 
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