| Watercooler Stories
PARIS, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A Paris auction of the late socialist French President François Mitterrand's personal belongings proved popular in Tuesday night, it was reported.
About 300 people bid on Mitterand's trademark scarves, fedoras, slippers and other items, The Times Online reported. The auction sales totaled about $222,000, or more than twice the amount expected, the news Web site reported.
The auction raised money for France Libertes, the charity of his his wife, Danielle Mitterrand.
French Socialists panned the auction, saying Mitterrand's belongings should have been preserved in his memory. Mitterand, who died 12 years ago, served as France's president from 1981-95.
Jell-O wrestling lawsuit thrown out
NEW YORK, Jan.
Update: Library Has 10 Copies of "Water for Elephants"
Librarian Bette Ammon e-mailed a few minutes ago to say that "Water the Elephants," the first selection for the new Huckleberries Online Book Club, arrived at the library Friday. They'll be available this evening. Three are reserved, including one by me. Seven others will be available. The library's open now, if you want to reserve a copy. Bette's also preparing some guidelines to help us get started on this adventure. P.S., I just finished reading Slavomir Raciwz "The Long Walk" and recommend it highly. It's a true story about 7 desperate prisoners who break out of a Communist prison in Siberia at the outbreak of World War II, in the dead of winter, and succeed in walking all the way to India, through the Gobi Desert and over the Himalayas. Easy read. Incredible story about man's desire to be free.
Business briefing
Kevin Lycklama has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer for Riverview Community Bank and Riverview Bancorp, Inc. Promotions at the bank include Anthony Hays, vice president and operations support manager; Andrew Whaley, vice president and information technology manager; and Jean Watson, assistant vice president and information technology supervisor. Jim Brekke has joined Columbia Credit Union as senior vice president and chief credit officer. Other new employees include Ron Dobyns, senior vice president and chief financial officer, and Terry Long, senior vice president and chief information officer. Anna Sands has been named volunteer and community relations manager for the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington. Sands will be responsible for all aspects of the volunteer program including scheduling, recruitment and retention of over 500 active volunteers.
California beef problems affect North Dakota lunchrooms
North Dakota schools are waiting for word on whether they can use hundreds of cases of ground beef from a California slaughterhouse under federal investigation.If the meat cannot be used, it might mean added expense for some school districts.Districts in North Dakota and several other states stopped using meat from Hallmark Meat Packing Co. and its associated Westland Meat Co. late last month under direction from the Agriculture Department, after a video showed workers brutalizing sick and crippled cows.The Hallmark plant is being investigated for possible violation of laws designed to ensure food safety and prevent animal cruelty.Westland sold more than 27 million pounds of beef last year for use in school lunch and other federal nutrition programs. USDA has extended a ban on use of meat from the Chino, Calif., slaughterhouse until Tuesday.
Regionally cherished novelist Bahaa Taher is all a
Material gain was not our aim. We worked late past midnight for the sake of work itself," he says. That spirit was everywhere at the time, he recalls. “I remember the story of an engineer working on the High Dam. He had to end his work for the day so a new shift would take over. But he did not want to stop, he was in tears as he begged his boss to let him keep working," he says. .
Nonprofits win grants totalin g $46,700
Rochester Area Community Foundation and the Wayne County Community Endowment announce the award of 12 grants to organizations. The grants, which total $46,700, are from a variety of funds established specifically to benefit Wayne County citizens. The checks will be presented to representatives of the organizations at a reception on December 6, 3:45 - 5 p.m. at the Reliant Community Credit Union located at 10 Benton Place in Sodus. Literacy Volunteers of Wayne County will receive $3300. They uses volunteers to help improve the literacy skills of adults. This grant will go towards increasing outreach efforts to increase awareness of this service among Wayne County residents. Scarlet Thread Ministries will get $2500. This grant was sought to support the continued operation of the Mill Street Youth Center in Sodus and the expansion of similar youth services to the Walworth Macedon Youth Project.
Poverty Drains Nutrition From Family Diet
THURSDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Members of poor households in which it is consistently hard to afford enough high-quality food end up eating nutritionally risky diets, Canadian researchers reveal. The new study is the first to show that food insecurity directly translates into poor nutrition. It also suggests that in such homes, adults and teens, rather than very young children, are the most likely to be subsisting on diets low in vitamins, minerals, fruits, vegetables, grains and meat. "Over the long term, [food insecurity] could be expected to precipitate and complicate diet-related chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease," cautioned study co-author, Sharon Kirkpatrick, a doctoral candidate in the department of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto.
US plans to shoot down spy satellite
New Delhi: While thousands of space objects burn up in the earth's atmosphere each year, America isn't taking chances with the classified data and toxic fuel on board this time. The US Department of Defense will shoot down a satellite that experts predict will land on Earth in late February or early March. The department announced Thursday that it will "engage" the decaying satellite, which it earlier deemed to be low risk. The department said this week that the chances that the "uncontrollable US experimental satellite" will hit a populated area are small, but "the potential consequences would be of enough concern to consider mitigating actions." The NROL-21 USA-193 satellite was launched for the Defense Department in December 2006 and failed within hours.
Should we buy Michael Pollan's nutritional Darwinism?
Adam and Eve must have been a healthy pair. They got some exercise, ate lots of locally grown fruits and vegetables, and while they may not have been thin by today's fashion standards, they certainly weren't ashamed of their bodies. Now look what's happened: In just 6,000 years, we've abandoned their sensible eating habits for a high-fat, sugar-loaded diet, and turned ourselves into a nation of lard-asses. Goodbye Garden of Eden; hello Olive Garden. Whence our fall from grace? According to Michael Pollan's essay in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine, the serpent wears a lab coat. For decades scientists have been analyzing the food we eat, breaking it down into component parts, and studying how each nutrient affects our health in controlled conditions. More often than not, the "expert advice" that emerged from this work did more harm than good, it seems.
This year, the American people will choose between two diametrically ...
The Democratic Party looks at our nation and sees the twilight of the American soul. Republicans affirm that now, as throughout history, the spiritual and intellectual genius of the American people will create a better nation and maintain a just peace. To Republicans, creativity and growth are imperatives for a new era of opportunity for all. The Republican Party's vision of America's future, the heart of our 1984 Platform, begins with a basic premise: From freedom comes opportunity; from opportunity comes growth; from growth comes progress. This is not some abstract formula. It is the vibrant, beating heart of the American experience. No matter how complex our problems, no matter how difficult our tasks, it is freedom that inspires and guides the American Dream.
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