| Thistles and thorns
A thistle to Obama for standing up to Detroit automakers and aiming to increase fuel economy standards. If he can, in fact, improve energy efficiency 50 percent by 2030, will his personal motorcade go green, too? A thorn to Obama for believing in capital punishment — even if it is only for “punishing the most heinous crimes." A thistle to Obama for seeing immigrants as people, not just aliens, and desiring to reunite families when possible and helping solve problems that send immigrants across the border in the first place. A thorn to Obama for sending mixed political messages. It is misaligned to at once support small businesses and be unable to regularly stand up to large corporations. John McCain A thistle to McCain for supporting a citizenship program for illegal immigrants who are already here because they've worked harder to be American than most Americans…or because otherwise he'd have to fire his gardener...
Fred Funk birdies final 2 holes to win season-opening MasterCard
KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii (AP) -Last season, Fred Funk fell $2,036 shy of becoming the first golfer to earn $1 million on both the PGA and Champions tours. This season, he's well on his way to accomplishing his lofty personal pursuit of becoming golf's first $2 million man. Funk earned $300,000 after he won the Champions Tour's season-opening MasterCard Championship on Sunday with birdies on the final two holes for a 7-under 65 and a two-stroke victory over Allen Doyle. The 51-year-old Funk finished with a 21-under 195 for his third Champions Tour victory in 14 starts and his second title in Hawaii in two years. Funk raised his club in the air after he chipped in from 20 feet on No. 17. He then holed a 7-foot birdie putt on the 54th hole, after hitting a spectacular 6-iron shot out of the bunker, capped with an emotional high-five to his caddie.
Magpies rubbish Beckham talk
Newcastle have dismissed reports linking David Beckham with a move to St James' Park. Kevin Keegan replaced Sam Allardyce as Magpies manager last week and is now looking to strengthen his squad before the close of the transfer window. A number of high-profile names have already been linked with moves to Newcastle and speculation has suggested that Beckham was one of those firmly in Keegan's sights. The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder has been training with Arsenal in recent weeks during the Major League Soccer off-season. He played under Keegan for England and it was reported that Newcastle were lining up a short-term deal for him. However, Newcastle chairman Chris Mort has rubbished the story.
Reed, Sekulow in on Romney-as-face-of-conservatism meeting
Romney does support NCLB. He has flipped on several major issues leading one to believe even Romney doesn't know what he believes. He's flipped on abortion, gun control, education, Bush tax cuts, civil unions, etc. As far as gay marriage in MA goes, read the facts. The court told the legislature to do something and they didn't. No one told Romney to do ANYTHING. But Mitt took the initiative and changed the forms for marriage and allowed same sex partners to begin getting married and then ordered justices of the peace, etc. to abide by those state forms. Why did Romney act on his own? He was never told or forced to act but did so on his own initiative. The record IS clear. When protection of marriage counted on Romney he cowled down to liberals. Half truth on Rocky Anderson? Nope. Mitt's face is on a Anderson campaign ad still on his website.
UTEP Miners' eyes on the prize
The thing we're doing is the same routine," coach Keitha Adams said, presumably for the 25th time this year. "We've watched film on Florida, we went through their personnel, their players. "We're just trying to take care of what we're trying to do. We're always trying to be focused on who we're playing. There's no question (the Southern Miss win) was very emotional, but we've turned the page." Of course, as always, there are marks at stake for 22-2 UTEP.
Though the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament is secured, the Miners would clinch the regular-season title outright with a victory.
A 14th conference victory would tie the C-USA record with two games still to play and keep alive UTEP's quest for the first unbeaten season in C-USA history.
UTEP could become the first league team to finish with a perfect conference road record.
Villa's away run delighting O'Neill
Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill expressed his delight at his side's fantastic away form, after their thumping 4-0 win at Blackburn lifted them to sixth in the Barclays Premier League table. The win was Villa's third in succession on their travels, and the way in which they polished off 10-man Rovers after recovering from a shaky start suggests a top-four finish is not out of the question. O'Neill said: "I'm delighted with a win of any sort. But I'm especially delighted to have got four on the spot, and three of those away from home." He added: "It's great for us, and confidence is very high at the moment. I thought for the first half-hour we were second-best. But our big goals are turning games, and I thought our second-half performance was excellent." John Carew opened the scoring with a 29th-minute header, and Gareth Barry added the second from the spot following the incident in which Rovers captain Ryan Nelsen was sent off.
Led Zeppelin plays one-night gig in London
LONDON, Dec. 11 The surviving members of Led Zeppelin made a triumphant return to the stage, playing a one-night-only gig in London Monday night.
More than 1 million fans attempted to secure tickets to the concert and some 18,000 were able to actually see the show, which was part of an event honoring the late Atlantic Records founder and producer Ahmet Ertegun.
The band's set list included "Good Times Bad Times," "Ramble On," "Black Dog," "In My Time Of Dying," "For Your Life," "Trampled Under Foot," "Nobody's Fault But Mine," "No Quarter," "Since I have Been Loving You," "Dazed and Confused," "Stairway To Heaven," "The Song Remains The Same," "Misty Mountain Hop," "Kashmir," "Whole Lotta Love" and "Rock And Roll," the BBC reported Tuesday.
The concert, which garnered generally great reviews, marked the first time the band played a full set together since 1980, Entertainment Weekly noted.
Britey gets reunited with her boys
Reunited and it feels so good for Britney Spears and her boys. For the first time in nearly two months, the beleaguered pop star had face-to-face contact with sons Sean Preston and Jayden James, during a Saturday morning, court-monitored visit, sources confirm to E! News. The boys, who have primarily resided at Federline's home in Tarzana since October, were packed into his gray Dodge Viper truck by a bodyguard and shuttled to Spears' home on the Studio City-Beverly Hills border around 9 a.m. The visit lasted until noon, at which point the boys were driven back to Federline's, wearing smiles on their faces. Aside from Spears and a court-appointed monitor, there were several other key personnel on hand, including: Britney's father, Jamie Spears; a Federline security guard; and a lawyer from the Luce Forward law firm, which is handling Britney's conservatorship for Jamie Spears.
Japanese cafe chain sues over low guide rating: firm
A Japanese cafe operator has sued a publisher after it got the lowest mark in a critic's ranking of popular chains, officials said Friday. Chat Noir, which operates 175 Caffe Veloce outlets in Japan, sued major publisher Kodansha, demanding 11 million yen (100,000 dollars) in damages and public advertising of an apology, a Kodansha official said. The October 2007 issue of "The Weekend for Adults" monthly magazine by Kodansha ranked 11 popular cafe chains in an undercover survey, checking them on drinks, food, atmosphere and convenience. Caffe Veloce -- known for signboards with wine-red frames or with the catchphrase, "Good coffee brewed here" -- came last, with the accompanying article saying it was sheer luck whether the coffee was any good. The chain argued that the ranking was based on the subjective judgement of one writer and hurt its brand image, according to media reports.
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