| Along Highway, Cubans Mull a New Castro
Like the traffic, life moves slowly along this Cuban highway. But on Sunday, word that the country had its first new president in nearly 50 years traveled fast, and encountered a range of opinions. For some residents in the towns and cities along the Carretera Central — the "Central Highway" — Raul Castro's elevation offers hope for change after decades of rule by his brother Fidel. But others favored calm and stability over any startling new approaches. The pothole-ridden highway runs east from Havana all the way to Cuba's second city, Santiago, on the extreme opposite end of the island, a journey of roughly 500 miles. Modern vehicles often have to slow down and wait for the chance to pass 1950s coupes, men on horseback, bicycles and rickshaws.
Find out if you’re heading into harm’s way
Travelers who have booked a trip through a tour operator likely won't have to decide themselves whether to postpone a trip, says Harvey Boysen, president of Gulliver's Travel in Fort Worth. The tour operator will make the decision based on reports from local offices.But if you're on your own, or just like to have all the information you can, here are ways to make an informed decision, keep yourself safe and possibly keep your savings intact if the worst happens.1. Find on-the-ground reports.Obviously the most effective way to really know what's happening is talking to people who are there. The key here is geography. Will trouble in Oaxaca affect your trip to Mexico City? News reports don't always pinpoint your vacation spot."You really need to be sure that you have a resource you can turn to for independent information,'' said Pamela Lassers, director of media relations for Abercrombie and Kent in Chicago.
Inland factories slow production, index says
The slowdown washing over Inland Southern California's economy may be filtering down to the manufacturing sector, a report released Friday showed. The Purchasing Managers Index, which measures factory activity in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, declined to 46.6 in January from 50.9 in December, the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San Bernardino reported. A reading below 50 suggests that the factory sector is contracting, although economists look for three consecutive months before considering it a trend. The Inland PMI has showed manufacturing growth for most of the past four years. .
Former NBA superstar Michael Jordan visits Slidell Boys and Girls Club ...
At least he is putting it in the hands of people that are going to make a difference. If he would have given it to Orleans Parish the mayor and his cronies would have stole most of it and only put less then half of it into building a Recreational Center. Thanks Micheal for thinking of the children of LOUISIANA!!!!! I don't even watch the NBA no more because it's not the same without MJ....THE BEST EVER TO PLAY THE SPORT!!!!!!!!! .
Internet Top U.S. Spy Drafting Plan to Increase Surveillance of Email ...
Worse, U.S. lawmakers are continually dragging their feet, and he thinks that the policy of tweaking 30-year-old laws is insufficient. "If we don't update FISA, the nation is significantly at risk," said McConnell. He noted that the NSA's monitoring capabilities dropped by 70 percent when federal judges entered a secret ruling that required warrants for intercepting traffic that "incidentally flowed" into domestic computer systems. McConnell used the specific case of three captured U.S. soldiers, whose lives were endangered because intelligence analysts ran into the aforementioned limitations; analysts' wiretapping efforts required a warrant because their communications "might pass electronically through U.S. circuits." McConnell thinks that recent efforts, like the stopgap Protect America Act of 2007, are merely lukewarm.
Winning, not entertaining, is always the primary goal
If people are entertained as a result, all the better for it. Not any more. Today, it seems no one appreciates performance for performance's sake. Watching people compete and win is not enough. Johnson is derided as boring for doing exactly what he's been trained to do, which is overpower opponents and win with numbing consistency. Tiger Woods does it in golf, and people are amazed and enthralled. Roger Federer does it in tennis, and people whisper to one another that they're witnessing history. Jimmie Johnson does it in NASCAR, and people wonder -- why can't he be funnier? Why can't he be more interesting? Johnson hears it. And to his credit, he doesn't seem to care. "I'll take the criticism of being vanilla to have the success," he said. "There are positives and negatives to everything.
Around Montana: Ash hires receivers coach
Rob Ash completed his Montana State football coaching staff on Wednesday, hiring former Kansas State quarterback Jonathan Beasley as the Bobcats' receivers coach. Beasley played quarterback at Kansas State from 1996-2000, serving as team captain as a junior and senior. He was third-team All-Big 12 in 2000, and he earned MVP honors in the 2001 Cotton Bowl and 2000 Holiday Bowl. He was the Wildcats; team captain and MVP of the 2001 Hula Bowl, and he was a team captain for the 2001 East-West Shrine Game.“(Jonathan) has extensive experience in the Big 12 and in professional football, and brings a great knowledge of offensive football and the passing game to our program," Ash said. “He earned the reputation as a great leader as a player, and is known for his class, character and integrity."Most recently a graduate assistant at Emporia State, Beasley served as quarterbacks and running backs coach at Wichita North High last fall and coached JV and freshman quarterbacks at Cactus High in Glendale, Ariz., in 2003-04.Beasley had tryouts with the Wichita Aviators in the APFL (2005), the Wichita Stealth in Arena II (2004), the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars (2003), the NFL Detroit Lions (2003), and NFL Green Bay Packers (2001).
New charge in London for high-pollution vehicles
Trucks that produce high levels of pollution will have to pay the equivalent of $400 a day to drive into London under rules that came into effect Monday. Mayor Ken Livingstone says the "low-emission zone" will improve air quality and reduce pollution-related deaths. But groups representing truckers say the new rules will be expensive to implement and bring little benefit. The plan uses a network of cameras to monitor vehicles entering the city. Their license plate numbers will be checked against vehicle records to see whether they meet European Union standards for exhaust emissions. Those that do not must register and pay £200 a day - the equivalent of $400 - or be fined £1,000. The rules initially apply to diesel-fueled trucks over 12 tons that do not meet EU standards, but will be extended to smaller vehicles - including buses, minibuses, large vans and ambulances - beginning this summer.
Seeing the combine from a different view
After the dash, the players got organized for passing and receiving drills. Michigan's Adrian Arrington, LSU's Early Doucet and Oklahoma State's Bowman didn't participate. Receivers ran quick out-routes to the sidelines that challenged them to pull in the ball while concentrating on getting two feet down in bounds. The quarterbacks' arm strength was tested as they attempted to hit receivers in-stride on fly routes and stutter-and-go routes of at least 40 yards. Receivers ran short crossing routes to show how crisply they could break their routes for a quick-hit gain, while the quarterback's short-game precision and timing was tested. Medium post routes and curls were also part of the drills. But the most interesting drill was the gauntlet, where each receiver started on the near sideline and ran to the opposite sideline while being peppered by passes from five quarterbacks, three on one side and two on the opposite side at evenly-spaced intervals.
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