Sarah Louise (Heath) Palin (IPA: /ˈpeɪlɨn/; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, the current Governor of Alaska and the presumptive Republican vice presidential nominee for the 2008 United States presidential election.

Palin was elected governor in late 2006 after defeating incumbent governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary and former Democratic governor Tony Knowles in the general election. She was the youngest person, and the first woman, to be elected governor of Alaska. Before becoming governor, Palin served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, City Council from 1992 to 1996, and was elected and re-elected mayor of Wasilla for two three-year terms in 1996 and 1999. She also ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor of Alaska in 2002. Palin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Idaho.

On August 29, 2008, Republican presidential candidate John McCain announced he had chosen Palin as his running mate, making her the second female vice presidential candidate representing a major political party, after Geraldine Ferraro, and the first female vice presidential candidate of the Republican Party. She will also be the first politician from Alaska to run on a major national ticket for president or vice president.
Early life

Palin was born Sarah Louise Heath in Sandpoint, Idaho, the daughter of Sarah Heath (née Sheeran), a school secretary, and Charles R. Heath, a science teacher and track coach.[2][3] She has English, Irish and German ancestry.[2] Her family moved to Alaska when she was an infant.She and her father would sometimes wake at 3 a.m. to hunt moose before school, and the family regularly ran 5K and 10K races.

Palin attended Wasilla High School in Wasilla, Alaska, where she was the head of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter at the school and the point guard and captain of the school’s basketball team. She helped the team win the Alaska small-school basketball championship in 1982, hitting a critical free throw in the last seconds of the game, despite having an ankle stress fracture at the time.She earned the nickname “Sarah Barracuda” because of her intense play and was the leader of team prayer before games.

In 1984, Palin won the Miss Wasilla beauty contest, then finished second in the Miss Alaska pageant, at which she won a college scholarship.In the Wasilla pageant, she played the flute and won “Miss Congeniality.”

Palin holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Idaho, where she also minored in political science.She married Todd Palin, her boyfriend since high school, on August 29, 1988. She then briefly worked as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations while also working as a commercial fisherwoman with her husband.

Pre-gubernatorial political experience

City Council and Mayorship

Palin began her political career in 1992, running for Wasilla City Council as a supporter of the controversial new sales tax and with an advertisement advocating “a safer, more progressive Wasilla”.[8] She won and served two terms on the council from 1992 to 1996. In 1996, she challenged and defeated incumbent mayor John Stein, criticizing wasteful spending and high taxes.[3] In January 1997, Palin fired the Wasilla police chief and library director. In response, a group of 60 residents calling themselves Concerned Citizens for Wasilla discussed attempting a recall campaign against Palin, but then decided against it The fired police chief eventually sued Palin on the grounds that he was fired because he supported the campaign of Palin’s opponent, but his suit was eventually dismissed when the judge ruled that Palin had the right under state law to fire city employees, even for political reasons. Palin followed through on her campaign promises to reduce her own salary, and to reduce property taxes by 60%.[citation needed] She ran for re-election against Stein in 1999, winning by an even larger margin.Palin was also elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.
While Mayor of Wasilla, Palin supported the presidential bid of conservative Pat Buchanan in 1996.

2002 election

In 2002, Palin made an unsuccessful bid for Lieutenant Governor, coming in second to Loren Leman in a five-way race in the Republican primary. After Frank Murkowski resigned from his long-held U.S. Senate seat in mid-term to become governor, he considered Palin as a possible successor.[15] Murkowski appointed his daughter, then-Alaska State Representative Lisa Murkowski.

Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission

Governor Murkowski appointed Palin Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission,[16] where she served from 2003 to 2004 until resigning in protest over what she called the “lack of ethics” of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders, who ignored her whistleblowing complaints of legal violations and conflicts of interest.[17][3] After she resigned, she exposed the state Republican Party’s chairman, Randy Ruedrich, one of her fellow Oil & Gas commissioners, who was accused of doing work for the party on public time, and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive e-mail.[18] Palin filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes, who both resigned; Ruedrich paid a record $12,000 fine.[3]

Governorship

Running on a clean-government campaign in 2006, Palin upset then-Governor Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary.[3] In August, she declared that education, public safety, and transportation would be three cornerstones of her administration.[19] Despite being outspent by her Democratic opponent, she won the gubernatorial election in November, defeating former Governor Tony Knowles 48.3% to 40.9%.[3]
Palin visits a wounded soldier in Landstuhl, Germany, July 2007
Palin visits a wounded soldier in Landstuhl, Germany, July 2007

Palin became Alaska’s first woman governor and, at 42, the youngest in Alaskan history. Palin was also the first Alaskan governor born after Alaska achieved U.S. statehood and the first not to be inaugurated in Juneau, instead choosing to hold her inauguration ceremony in Fairbanks. She took office on December 4, 2006.

Palin initially expressed support for the Gravina Island Bridge project,[20] commonly known outside the state as the “Bridge to Nowhere.” However, once it had become a nationwide symbol of wasteful earmark spending and some Federal funding was lost, Palin cancelled the bridge. She was able to keep the Federal money[21] because Alaska’s congressional delegation was unable to prevent the state of Alaska from having to pay for part of the bridge’s construction.[22][23] She stated that Alaska should rely less on Federal funding.[24]

She has challenged the state’s Republican leaders, helping to launch a campaign by Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell to unseat U.S. Congressman Don Young[25] and publicly challenging Senator Ted Stevens to come clean about the federal investigation into his financial dealings.

Palin frequently had an approval rating above 90% in 2007.[24] A poll published by Hays Research on July 28, 2008 showed Palin’s approval rating at 80%,[26] while another Ivan Moore poll showed it at 76%, a drop which the pollsters attributed to the controversial firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.[27]

Energy and environment
Palin at Alaska Airmen’s Trade Show in Anchorage, Alaska on May 10, 2008
Palin at Alaska Airmen’s Trade Show in Anchorage, Alaska on May 10, 2008

Palin has strongly promoted oil resource development in Alaska[28], and also helped pass a tax increase on oil company profits.Palin has announced plans to create a new sub-cabinet group of advisors to address climate change reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska.

Shortly after taking office, Palin rescinded 35 appointments made by Murkowski in the last hours of his administration, including that of his former chief of staff James “Jim” Clark to the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority.[30][31] Clark later pleaded guilty to conspiring with a defunct oil-field-services company to channel money into Frank Murkowski’s re-election campaign.[32]

In March 2007, Palin presented the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) as the new legal vehicle for building a natural gas pipeline from the state’s North Slope.[33] This negated a deal by the previous governor to grant the contract to a coalition including BP (her husband’s former employer). Only one legislator, Representative Ralph Samuels, voted against the measure,[34] and in June, Palin signed it into law. On January 5, 2008, Palin announced that a Canadian company, TransCanada Corp., was the sole AGIA-compliant applicant.In August 2008, Palin signed a bill into law giving the state of Alaska authority to award TransCanada Pipelines a license to build and operate the $26-billion-dollar pipeline to ship natural gas from the North Slope to the Lower 48 through Canada.

In response to high oil and gas prices, and the resulting state government budget surplus, Palin proposed giving Alaskans $100-a-month energy debit cards. She also proposed providing grants to electrical utilities so that they would reduce customers’ rates.[40] She subsequently dropped the debit card proposal, and in its place she proposed to send Alaskans $1,200 directly, paid for partially by the money given to the state of Alaska that was to be spent on the “Bridge to Nowhere,” and eliminate the state sales tax on gasoline.[41]

In 2007, Palin approved a $150 cash incentive for each Alaskan wolf to be killed by hunters in helicopters. The incentive was called a “bounty” for killing wolves by Alaska Wildlife Alliance Director John Toppenberg.

Budget

Shortly after becoming governor, Palin canceled a contract for the construction of an 11-mile (18-kilometer) gravel road outside Juneau to a mine. This reversed a decision made in the closing days of the Murkowski Administration.

In June 2007, Palin signed into law a $6.6 billion operating budget—the largest in Alaska’s history.[44] At the same time, she used her veto power to make the second-largest cuts of the construction budget in state history. The $237 million in cuts represented over 300 local projects, and reduced the construction budget to nearly $1.6 billion.

When on June 6, 2007, the Alaska Creamery Board recommended closing Matanuska Maid Dairy, an unprofitable state-owned business, Palin objected, citing concern for the impact on dairy farmers and the fact that the dairy had just received $600,000 in state money. When Palin found out that the Board of Agriculture and Conservation appoints Creamery Board members, she replaced the entire membership of the Board of Agriculture and Conservation.[24][46] The new board reversed the decision to close the dairy, but later in 2007, with Palin’s support, the unprofitable business was put up for sale. There were no offers in December 2007, when the minimum bid was set at $3.35 million,[47][48] and the dairy was closed that month. In August 2008, the Anchorage plant was purchased for $1.5 million, the new minimum bid; the purchaser plans to convert it into heated storage units.

Solange Piaget Knowles (born June 24, 1986), professionally known as Solange, she is an American actress, R&B and pop singer, songwriter, producer, model, and dancer. She is the younger sister of R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles.

Early life

Solange Knowles was born in Houston, Texas, to Mathew and Tina Knowles. Her father is African-American and her mother is of Creole descent (African-American, Native American, and French).She is the cousin of Angela Beyincé (song co-writer) and her maternal grandparents are Lumis Beyincé and Agnéz Deréon, (a seamstress).

Recording career

2000-2006: Solo Star

Managed by her father Matthew, Knowles broke into music business in 2001 with an appearance on Destiny’s Child’s 2001 holiday album 8 Days of Christmas, providing vocals for the tracks “Little Drummer Boy” and “Proud Family.” The following year she was featured on Lil Romeo’s second studio album Game Time (2002), singing portions of Luther Vandross-penned “So Amazing” on the single “True Love,” and on Kelly Rowland’s solo album Simply Deep (2002), for which she penned the title song. In the meantime, Knowles intensified work on her debut album, which involved high-profile producers such as Jermaine Dupri, The Neptunes, Linda Perry and Timbaland among others. Knowles wrote or co-produced eleven tracks on Solo Star, including its leading single, Damon Elliott-produced “Feelin’ You (Part II).” The song failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100, but reached the top 3 on both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales and the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart.Solo Star was eventually released on January 21, 2003 in the States, where it debuted at number 49 on the Billboard 200 and number 23 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, selling 112,000 copies domestically, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

In the following years, Knowles contributed songs for Destiny’s Child, Rowland, Michelle Williams, Trin-I-Tee 5:7, and sister Beyoncé, including single releases “Get Me Bodied,” “Upgrade U,” and “We Break the Dawn.”In 2005, she made a cameo appearance in Destiny’s Child’s music video for “Soldier” when she was pregnant with her son Daniel.

2007-present: Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams

In late 2007, while being in the studio, recording her second album, Knowles signed a new record deal with Geffen Records.Heading into a new musical direction with elements of “modern twist on hip-hop and R&B flecked with tinges of blues and jazz,” the album includes production by Cee-Lo Green, Soulshock & Karlin, Polow da Don and Mark Ronson as well as appearances by Q-Tip, Lil’ Wayne, Estelle, and Bilal.

Knowles finished work on her second studio album in 2008, and titled the project Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams. The music video for its first single, The Neptunes-produced “I Decided” was shot in April 2008, and premiered on June 4, 2008 on BET’s Access Granted. So far, the single has reached the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales charts.For the UK & European release, Solange worked with British producers Freemasons, who previously worked on remixes for Beyonce & Kelly Rowland, to create “I Decided Part II”. This version will be released August 11, with the album following on August 26.

Solange recently announced, via her Blog, HadleyStreetJournal.com, that she will be releasing a series of mixtapes, to coincide with the album. The first mixtape, titled “I Can’t Get Clearance…”, includes the recently leaked track “F*** The Industry (Signed Sincerly)”. On this record, Knowles expresses her views on the current state of the music industry. The track name checks some major artists such as Mary J. Blige, Ashanti, Keyshia Cole, and sister Beyonce Knowles, although on her blog, she clearly stated that the song does not have “a negative light to any of the artist”

Other ventures

Acting

Knowles appeared in Johnson Family Vacation. She also appeared on the TV show One on One, as well as in The Brothers Garcia and Taina in special guest roles. She then starred in Bring It On: All or Nothing alongside Heroes star Hayden Panettiere, which was released straight to video on August 8, 2006.

Modeling

She models for her mother’s clothing line, House of Deréon, named after her grandmother, Agnéz Deréon. Knowles also helped to launch a sister line to House of Deréon, named Deréon, for younger customers. She and Beyoncé model for Deréon, and feature in most of its marketing campaigns. Solange and Beyoncé were featured in a “Got Milk?” campaign ad, while still wearing House of Deréon.

Entrepreneuring

Knowles has been promoting Baby Jamz, a hip-hop/rhythm inspired toy line for preschoolers. She is executive producer of the CD, updated hip-hop inspired nursery rhymes, and the music featured in all of the toys. Knowles’ son, Julez, is the face of Baby Jamz.

She is currently working with a Private Equity firm to help finance special projects in distribution, promotions and marketing music with Music World Entertainment and Geffen. The Private Equity firm is focusing on buying and selling music licensing rights to the movie industry and consumer products like Coca-Cola, Alcohol beverages and Proctor & Gamble Company products. The music for commercials will be the first deal of its kind for a female R&B singer.

Personal life

Knowles married football player Daniel Smith in February 2004 and on October 18, 2004, Knowles gave birth to Daniel Julez Smith Jr.

In October 2007, Solange confirmed in an interview with Essence magazine that she and husband Daniel Smith had divorced. She then married Ehsan Saidi from Portland, Or.[11] She has also appeared in Teen People, Seventeen, YM, Honey, and J-14.

Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981) is an American actress, singer and fashion model. She first gained notice as one of the finalists on the third season of the FOX television series American Idol. She went on to star as Effie White in the 2006 motion picture adaptation of the musical Dreamgirls for which she won numerous awards including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a SAG Award. Hudson cites Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin as her biggest influences.
Background

Hudson was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Darnell Hudson and Samuel Simpson, who was a bus driver.She was raised Baptist and attended Dunbar Vocational Career Academy and graduated in 1999. She cites Whitney Houston as her musical and movie influence, as well as Aretha Franklin.She has also cited on multiple occasions that Celine Dion is one of her favorite artists.

After seeing Hudson’s performance in Dreamgirls, American Idol judge Simon Cowell taped a congratulatory message to her, which aired on The Oprah Winfrey Show.With the March 2007 issue, Jennifer Hudson became the third African American celebrity, and the first African American singer, to grace the cover of Vogue magazine.

American Idol

Hudson auditioned for the third season of American Idol in Atlanta, Georgia. In her audition she commented that she had been singing on Disney Cruise Lines for the past few months (as one of the Muses from Hercules) and Randy said “We’re expecting more than a cruise ship performance from you”. Jennifer delivered and all the judges agreed it was the best voice they had heard so far in the competition. She was a member of the first group of semifinalists in the Semi Finals. She was not voted through to the final round, although she was brought back on the wildcard round and put through as a Top 12 finalist by contest judge Randy Jackson.

Jennifer Hudson struggled to gain popularity in the early stages of the live shows, receiving the second-lowest number of votes in two of the first three shows. However, after a change in song choices, she soon became a favorite to win, receiving the highest number of votes in the Top 9 after her performance of Elton John’s “Circle of Life” on April 6, 2004. Among Hudson’s worthy performances on the show was her rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing”. American Idol judge Simon Cowell commented that she “finally proved why she was among the Top 12″ and referred to the performance a week later as “sensational”.

On April 21, 2004, Hudson became the sixth of the 12 finalists to be voted off the show, finishing the competition in seventh place.

American Idol performances

* “Imagine” (John Lennon, 1971) (Semifinals; February 10, 2004)
* “I Believe in You and Me” (The Four Tops, 1982; Whitney Houston, 1996) (Wild card; March 9, 2004)
* “Baby, I Love You” (Aretha Franklin, 1967) (Soul week; March 16, 2004) (Bottom 2)
* “No One Else on Earth” (Wynonna Judd)” (Country; March 23, 2004)
* “(Love is Like a) Heat Wave” (Motown, Martha and the Vandellas; March 30, 2004) (Bottom 2)
* “Circle of Life” Elton John, 1994) (Elton John songs; April 6, 2004) (Highest Number Of Votes)
* “I Have Nothing” (The Bodyguard, Whitney Houston, 1992) (Movie songs week; April 14, 2004)
* “Weekend in New England” (Barry Manilow, 1976) (Manilow songs; April 20, 2004) (Bottom 3: eliminated)

Acting career

Dreamgirls

In November 2005, Hudson was cast in the prized role of Effie White, the role originally created in a legendary Broadway performance by Jennifer Holliday, for the film adaptation of the musical Dreamgirls, which also starred Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles, and Eddie Murphy. This role marked Hudson’s debut screen performance. Hudson won the role over hundreds of professional singers and actresses, including American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino, and Raven Symone. She said in an interview on The View that Fantasia called her and said:”Girl, you stole my part”.Filming of Dreamgirls began on January 9, 2006, and the film went into limited release on December 25, 2006 and national release on January 12, 2007.

Hudson has won particular praise for her show-stopping onscreen rendition of the hit song, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”, the signature song of the role, which had earlier been recorded, and had already reached the status of musical standard, because of the definitive performance of Jennifer Holliday. The New York Observer described Hudson’s performance of the song as “five mellifluous, molto vibrato minutes that have suddenly catapulted Ms. Hudson… into the position of front-runner for the best supporting actress Oscar.” Newsweek said that when moviegoers hear Hudson sing the song, she “is going to raise goose bumps across the land.” Variety wrote that Hudson’s performance “calls to mind debuts like Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl or Bette Midler in The Rose, with a voice like the young Aretha.”

As Effie White, Hudson has garnered twenty-nine awards from film critics as Best Supporting Actress and Breakthrough Performer of 2006. She won the Golden Globe Award as Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In addition, she has been named Best Supporting Actress by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and also by the Screen Actors Guild.

On February 25, 2007, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in this film. At 25 years old, Hudson became the eighth-youngest winner of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Upon winning this award, Hudson also became one of the very few performers ever to win an Oscar for a debut screen performance. As of 2007, she is also the only person to have gone from participating in a reality television series to becoming an Academy Award winner. During her acceptance speech Hudson said: “Oh my God, I have to just take this moment in. I cannot believe this. Look what God can do. I didn’t think I was going to win.” “If my grandmother was here to see me now. She was my biggest inspiration.” She also concluded her speech by thanking Jennifer Holliday.

Hudson’s version of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” debuted at number 98 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the January 13, 2007 issue. The Dreamgirls track has since become Hudson’s first Top 10 hit, but not on the Hot 100, as the track registered a new peak at #7 on the Billboard Hot Adult R&B Airplay chart on February 24, 2007. The track has also reached #14 on the Hot R&B/HipHop Songs chart, and remixes of the song have seen Jennifer reach the #1 position on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play Chart.

In addition, Hudson was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on June 18 along with 115 other individuals for 2007.

Further acting projects

In September 2007, Hudson began work on Sex and the City: The Movie, as Louise, Carrie Bradshaw’s assistant. Filming finished in December 2007 and the movie premiered on May 30, 2008.[13] In 2008, Hudson is scheduled to appear as Kathy Archenault in Winged Creatures, a film based on the novel by Roy Freirich, with Forest Whitaker, Guy Pearce, Kate Beckinsale, Dakota Fanning, Josh Hutcherson, and Jackie Earl Haley. In January 2008 Jennifer began filming her fourth film The Secret Life of Bees as Rosaleen, the mother figure of Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning). Also starring in the film are fellow Oscar nominees Queen Latifah and Sophie Okonedo, as well as Alicia Keys.

Recording career

Hudson recorded “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)”, originally by Gladys Knight & the Pips, for American Idol Season 3: Greatest Soul Classics—the official American Idol album for the 3rd season.

She is featured in a duet, “The Future Ain’t What it Used to Be” on Meat Loaf’s Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose album. She also performed the song “Easy To Be Hard” on the Actors’ Fund benefit recording of the musical Hair and she is featured on Ne-Yo’s second album Because of You on the track “Leaving Tonight”. Hudson has also recorded a new song with rapper Papoose, titled “Special.”

In September 2006, Hudson performed the song “Over It” live on Fox Chicago Morning News. In the interview she stated the song would be included on her debut album, to be released in early 2007 however this was before she signed with Arista.[14] On the Oprah Show, Hudson announced plans to enter the studio in March 2007. Hudson said on the Tyra Banks Show on February 23, 2007 that she just finished the first song for the album. Hudson also recorded a song called “Stand Up” which was available for on her fan website to purchase and is now able to be previewed on her myspace.

Music

In November 2006, Hudson signed a record deal with Arista Records and is currently working on her debut album and has recently finished recording one song entitled “Depreciate.”

In January 2008, it was announced that Hudson would be returning to the studio to record new material for her debut album. Her label was reportedly unhappy with the direction they were sending Hudson musically, and decided it would be best to scrap the older songs and instead focus on new ones. Hudson will be working with Ryan Tedder and Timbaland on a number of songs.

During an interview in May 2008, Hudson confirmed that her debut album, which will be self titled, would be released on September 30, 2008 under the Arista Records label. She also announced that later this month her debut single “Spotlight” would be released in order to promote her debut album. The song leaked on May 16, 2008 and can be listened on video hosting site YouTube.The first single, “Spotlight,” will impact U.S. radio outlets on June 9 and be available for sale via digital outlets the following day. “Spotlight” was written by Ne-Yo, who co-produced along with Stargate. Additional contributors on the album include Timbaland, Robin Thicke, the Underdogs, Diane Warren and Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, among others.[18] She has performed the song “All Dressed In Love” for the Sex and the City: The Movie soundtrack, which was released on May 27, 2008.

Personal life

Hudson has been dating James Payton since 1999 when she was 18. They both hail from Chicago. When asked if they had any plans to marry, Hudson declared that “We are happy with the place we are right now, but perhaps we will tie the knot someday. One thing’s for sure, I definitely won’t be popping the question!”.

Shawn Machel Johnson (born January 19, 1992) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2008 Olympic women’s balance beam gold medalist, the individual all-around silver medalist,the 2007 all-around World Champion, and the 2007 and 2008 U.S. all-around champion.
Personal life

Johnson is the daughter of Doug and Teri Johnson. She was enrolled in a gymnastics class, after her parents noticed her climbing up cabinets and jumping down from tables. At the age of six, she was among the first students when Liang Chow opened a gymnastics school in Des Moines.

Johnson currently attends Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, entering the 2008–09 school year as a junior. Unlike most elite gymnasts who train approximately 40 hours a week and have private tutors, Johnson trains 20-25 hours a week and attends a public high school where she is currently on the “A” Honor Roll and takes part in numerous extra-curricular activities.

Career

Junior Career

Shawn Johnson qualified to Junior International Elite status on her first attempt. She first attracted widespread attention at the 2005 U.S. Classic, where she placed 3rd in the junior division. At the 2005 U.S. National Championships, Johnson struggled on the first day of competition, falling from the beam and on the floor. She placed tenth in the all-around.

By 2006, Johnson was ready with new skills, including a Jaeger on bars, and two top-difficulty skills: full-in beam dismount and double-twisting double back floor exercise mount. She won the 2006 U.S. junior national all-around Champion with a score higher than any of the senior elite competitors that year.

Senior career

2007 season

Johnson entered the senior division in 2007, and continued to showcase new skills, including a double twisting double layout dismount off the uneven bars. She competed at the 2007 Tyson American Cup, winning the all-around title over teammate Natasha Kelley. Johnson also competed in the 2007 Pan American Games, winning four gold medals in the team finals, the individual all-around, and the balance beam and uneven bar finals, and the silver in the floor exercise final.

She won the all-around at the 2007 Visa U.S. National Championships, beating two-time National Champion Nastia Liukin by more than 5 points, and Shayla Worley by more than 3 points.

Johnson represented the U.S. at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with teammates Nastia Liukin, Shayla Worley, Alicia Sacramone, Ivana Hong and Samantha Peszek. They won the team competition with a score of 184.400 points, 0.95 points ahead of the silver medalist Chinese team. Johnson competed on all four apparatus in the team competition.

In the qualification round, Johnson earned a score of 16.25 on beam, 15.15 on floor exercise, and 15.175 on vault. She fell on her uneven bars dismount and scored 14.625.The U.S. finished first in the qualifying round. Johnson’s scores qualified her for the all-around finals, along with Liukin. Johnson also qualified to the beam and floor event finals. In the team competition, Johnson scored 15.375 on uneven bars and floor exercise, and a 15.150 on vault. She fell on the beam on her handspring-handspring-layout series and scored 15.025. The U.S. team won the gold medal. It was the second team gold medal for the United States in the World Championships.

In the individual all-around competition, Johnson performed a double-twisting Yurchenko vault and scored 15.175. She scored 15.425 on floor exercise, 15.9 on beam, and 15.375 on uneven bars. Her total score of 61.875 earned her the gold medal. She became the fourth American woman to win the all-around.

During event finals, Johnson first competed on the balance beam, where she fell on her standing full and on her switch side leap, earning a score of 14.475. She finished in last place. In floor exercise, she went out-of-bounds on her first tumbling pass and won the gold with a score of 15.25.

2008 Summer Olympics

At the 2008 Summer Olympics Johnson competed in all four events during the team competition,in which the United States won the silver medal.[8] However, since new information regarding the ages of some suspect Chinese gymnasts has surfaced, the United States women will receive the gold medal if any Chinese participants are found to be in violation of the 16-year-old age requirement.Johnson also won the silver medal in the individual all-around competition, receiving a score of 62.725.Johnson’s teammate Nastia Liukin won the gold medal, receiving a score of 63.325.[11] With Liukin taking gold and Johnson silver, this competition was the first time that the United States Women’s Gymnastics team took both the gold and silver medals in the individual all-around competition; this competition also marks only the fourth time any country has won both the gold and silver medals in the individual all-around competition. She won the silver medal in floor exercise, with teammate Liukin taking bronze. She did, however, win a gold medal on the balance beam apparatus.Like the individual all-around, she and Liukin took the top two medals in this event.

Skills

As of 2008, Johnson often competed the following skills, listed per apparatus.

* Vault - Amanar - 2 1/2 twisting, laid out Yurchenko
* Bars - Toe-on full pirouette; Jaeger; Gienger; bail handstand; double twisting double layout dismount.
* Floor - Double twisting double tuck; whip immediate triple full; front full punch layout rudi; double full; tucked full-in. She also changed her music for this routine from Highway Blues to August’s Rhapsody, from the soundtrack of August Rush.
* Beam - Front Pike; standing tucked full; switch split leap to layout step out to pike back; 2 back handsprings to a back layout; full-in tuck dismount.

The manta ray (Manta birostris), is the largest of the rays, with the largest known specimen having been more than 7.6 m (about 25 ft) across, with a weight of about 2,300 kg (about 5,000 lb). It ranges throughout all tropical waters of the world, typically around coral reefs.

Mantas have been given a variety of common names, including Atlantic manta, Pacific manta, devilfish, and just manta. Some people just call all members of the family stingrays, though stingrays comprise a separate family of rays (Dasyatidae). Recent studies have discovered that what is called manta ray are at least two different species, one smaller local and one much larger and migratory.

Anatomy

Mantas are most commonly black dorsally and white ventrally, but some are blue on their backs. A manta’s eyes are located at the base of the cephalic lobes on each side of the head, and unlike other rays the mouth is found at the anterior edge of its head. To respire, like other rays, the manta has five pairs of gills on the underside.

To swim better through the ocean[citation needed], they have a diamond shaped body plan, using their pectoral fins as graceful “wings”.

Distinctive “horns” (from which the common name Devil ray stems) are on either side of its broad head. These unique structures are actually derived from the pectoral fins. During embryonic development, part of the pectoral fin breaks away and moves forward, surrounding the mouth. This gives the manta ray the distinction of being the only jawed vertebrate to have novel limbs (the so-called six-footed tortoise, Manouria emys, does not actually have six legs–only enlarged tuberculate scales on their thighs that look superficially like an extra pair of hind limbs). These flexible horns are used to direct plankton, small fish and water into the manta’s very broad and wide mouth. The manta can curl them to reduce drag while swimming.
Manta ray at Hin Daeng, Thailand.
Manta ray at Hin Daeng, Thailand.

Evolution and taxonomy

Manta rays are believed by some to have evolved from bottom-feeding ancestry, but have adapted to become filter feeders in the open ocean. This allowed them to grow to a larger size than any other species of ray. Because of their pelagic lifestyle as plankton feeders, some of the ancestral characteristics have degenerated. For example, all that is left of their oral teeth is a small band of vestigial teeth on the lower jaw, almost hidden by the skin. Their dermal denticles are also greatly reduced in number and size, but are still present, and they have a much thicker body mucus coating than other rays. Their spiracles have become small and non-functional, as all water is taken in through their mouth instead.

Taxonomically, the situation of the mantas is still under investigation. Three species have been identified: Manta birostris, Manta ehrenbergii, and Manta raya, but they are quite similar, and the latter two may just be isolated populations. The genus Manta is sometimes placed in its own family, Mobulidae, but this article follows FishBase taxonomy, and places it in the family Myliobatidae, along with eagle rays and their relatives.

Behavior

Mantas are filter feeders: they feed on plankton, fish larvae and the like, passively filtered from the water passing through their gills as they swim. The small prey organisms are caught on flat horizontal plates of russet-coloured spongy tissue, that span the spaces between the manta’s gill bars.

Mantas frequent reef-side cleaning stations where small fish such as wrasses and angelfish swim inside the manta’s gills and all over its skin to feed, in the process cleaning it of parasites and removing bits of dead skin.

The predators of the Manta ray include mainly large sharks, however in some circumstances orcas have also been observed preying on them.

Mantas are extremely curious around humans, and are fond of swimming with scuba divers. Although they may approach humans, if touched, their mucus membrane is removed, causing lesions and infections on their skin. They will often surface to investigate boats (without engines running). They have the largest brain-to-body ratio of the sharks and rays.
Mantas are known to breach the water into the air.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The 20-year-old son of Grammy award-winning rapper and producer Dr. Dre was found dead over the weekend at his home in Woodland Hills, California, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Andre Young Jr. was out with friends Friday night and his mother later found him “unresponsive in bed” when she tried to wake him early Saturday morning, coroner’s spokesman Ed Winter told Reuters. She immediately called paramedics, who later pronounced Young dead at the scene.

“Dr. Dre is mourning the loss of his son Andre Young Jr. Please respect his family’s grief and privacy at this time,” said a statement released by his spokeswoman.

[read more]

DENVER - Democrats were using the one-two punch of Hillary and Bill Clinton to unify their party against Republicans and argue that the nation would be safer — its economy as well as its citizens — under a Barack Obama administration.

Anticipating Wednesday night’s focus on national security at the Democratic National Convention, Republican John McCain contended in a new TV ad that Obama showed he was “dangerously unprepared” for the White House when he described Iran as a “tiny” nation that didn’t pose a serious threat.

“Iran. Radical Islamic government. Known sponsors of terrorism. Developing nuclear capabilities to ‘generate power’ but threatening to eliminate Israel,” says the ad, which was being run in key states. “Terrorism, destroying Israel — those aren’t ’serious threats’”?

[read more]

Superman (sometimes called Superman (volume 1) and for a time published as Adventures of Superman) is a comic book published by DC Comics. The character Superman began as one of several anthology features in the National Periodical Publications comic book Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The strip proved so popular that National launched Superman into his own self-titled comic book, the first for any superhero, premiering with cover-date June 1939. Between 1986 and 2006 it was retitled Adventures of Superman while a new comic book used the title Superman. As of June 25, 2008, the series has reached issue #677.

Superman

Whereas Action Comics at the time was an anthology featuring stories of several different characters in addition to Superman such as Zatara and Tex Thompson, the Superman comic only contained Superman stories.

The Superman comic book began being published quarterly, soon going bimonthly and in the late 1950s turning monthly. Twelve Annual issues were published between 1960-1986, and three Special issues were published between 1983-1985. This initial Superman series went on a three-month hiatus with issue #423 (Sept. 1986), as did sister title Action Comics, while the new Man of Steel limited series was published, introducing the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman.

Awards

The creators who have worked on Superman over the years have received a number of awards and nominations, including the 1969 Alley Award for Strip Most Needing Improvement, the 1970 Shazam Award for Best Writer (Dramatic Division), for Dennis O’Neil for his work on Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern, and a 1986 Jack Kirby Award nomination for Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons for Superman Annual #11 (1985).

Adventures of Superman

The death of Superman and its aftermath ran through a number of issues of the Superman comics in 1992–1993 (Adventures of Superman #499. Cover art by Tom Grummett and Doug Hazlewood).
The death of Superman and its aftermath ran through a number of issues of the Superman comics in 1992–1993 (Adventures of Superman #499. Cover art by Tom Grummett and Doug Hazlewood).
The survivors of the Crisis are about to enter into the paradise dimension. Cover of Adventures of Superman #649 (April 2006), by Ivan Reis, the “final” issue of the series under that title.
The survivors of the Crisis are about to enter into the paradise dimension. Cover of Adventures of Superman #649 (April 2006), by Ivan Reis, the “final” issue of the series under that title.

After the Man of Steel limited series, Action Comics returned and Superman (Volume 2), #1 was published. A new title, Adventures of Superman premiered with #424, continuing the numbering of the original Superman series. The initial team working on the renamed title was writer Marv Wolfman and artist Jerry Ordway.

Adventures of Superman was numbered from issue #424 (January 1987) to issue #649 (April 2006), for a total of 228 monthly issues (including issue #0 (October 1994) published between issues #516 and #517 during the Zero Hour crossover event and issue #1,000,000 (November 1998) during the DC One Million crossover event) and nine Annuals published between 1987 to 1997.

The plots of the Superman books were often linked during the first few years of the series run. To coordinate the storyline and sequence of event, from January 1991 to January 2002, “triangle numbers” (or “shield numbers”) appeared on the cover of each Superman comic book. During these years the Superman story lines ran with the story continuing through the titles Superman, Action Comics and later in two further series, Superman: The Man of Steel and Superman: The Man of Tomorrow. After February 2002, the integration between the Superman titles became less frequent, and the remaining issues of Adventures of Superman commonly carried self-contained stories. The final issue (#649), however, was part of a three-part crossover with Superman and Action Comics, an homage to the Golden Age Superman in the wake of events in the limited series Infinite Crisis.

For its last few years, Adventures of Superman was written by Greg Rucka. Notable plots included the villain Ruin, the attempted assassination of Lois Lane and a number of well-regarded Mxyzptlk appearances.

Awards

Issues #501 through #503 of the series were a part of the story The Reign of the Supermen which won the Comics Buyer’s Guide Fan Award for Favorite Comic Book Story for 1993.[citation needed]

Superman returns

Superman (Volume 2) reached issue #226 (April 2006) and was then cancelled as part of the companywide Infinite Crisis storyline. Adventures of Superman was returned to its original title, Superman, with issue #650 (May 2006). Action Comics had continued publication normally.

The annual editions after the retitling back to Superman (Volume 1) continued starting with Annual #13 released November 28, 2007 (cover dated Jan. 2008, the last annual issue prior to the 1987 retitling was Annual #12 in 1986). The Annual issue’s lead story was the finale to the “Camelot Falls” arc by Busiek and Pacheco.

The book also participated in the weekly series Countdown to Final Crisis, giving a different perspective on certain happenings that are shown in the weekly title, such as the events preceding the death of New God Lightray.

As of summer 2008, the current creative team on Superman is James Robinson and Renato Guedes, replacing writer Kurt Busiek after his 25-issue run on the title. The most recent issue of Superman to reach publication (as of June 2008) was #677. Geoff Johns, the writer of Action Comics, and Robinson have stated that his title and Superman as well as “Supergirl” will cross over frequently.[1] Superman-line editor Matt Idelson also proclaimed that the character’s origin story will be retold in an arc crossing over between Superman and Action, written by Johns and Robinson respectively.

Heidi Montag (born September 15, 1986 in Crested Butte, Colorado) is an American reality television personality best known for appearing on the MTV reality television series The Hills. Montag works as an event planner for Bolthouse Productions and is also an aspiring singer. She also has a fashion line called Heidiwood.

Biography

The Hills

In the summer of 2005, MTV began filming the lives of Laguna Beach cast member Lauren Conrad and her college friends for her spin-off reality show, The Hills.Montag’s reality TV career began with a few appearances on season two of MTV’s Laguna Beach. Montag’s friendship with Conrad led to a featured role in The Hills, which premiered on May 31, 2006. Montag was featured in the series sharing an apartment with Conrad while studying at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. Montag left the Fashion Institute in fall of 2005 when she was hired at Bolthouse Productions.According to Montag, she dropped out because she “did not find the school challenging” Although during the show she claimed it was because she had already found a job. Within two years, Montag was promoted to event planner at Bolthouse, and has no plans to return to fashion school.

Montag appeared in every episode of seasons one and two of The Hills, and appeared in season three, which aired on MTV on August 13, 2007.

The nature of Montag’s role in future seasons of The Hills is unclear since she is no longer living with Conrad and no longer speaks with her because of conflicts which occurred during their time as roommates, which surrounded Montag’s relationship with Spencer Pratt. Despite a major role on the show, she did not appear on The Hills: Finale After Party, broadcast live from MTV’s New York headquarters or The Hills: MTV Canada Finale After Show (filmed at MTV’s Toronto studios).

At The Hills: MTV Canada Finale After Show, cast member Audrina Patridge made it public that she no longer speaks with or sees Montag.

Montag has discussed taking acting classes, saying she hopes The Hills will help her jump start a film career. She has expressed a desire to have appearances in “some movies” in addition to “a couple of hit albums”.[10] In a recent Blender magazine interview, Montag revealed her intentions of one day winning an Academy Award.

Music

As of February 2007, Montag is working on recording an album with producer David Foster.[12] Montag danced as a child, thus reportedly plans to do “a lot of performing” in connection with the album. Additionally, she indicates that a lot of her songs “will be very sexual.”.

On August 16, 2007, Ryan Seacrest premiered Montag’s song, “Body Language”, featuring Pratt rapping, on his KIIS-FM radio show. Both Montag and Pratt denied the song was her intended first single with Pratt telling Us Weekly that the tune, “was a song Heidi and I were doing for fun. Never would I rap on her first single!”

It was also reported that Montag is on a one-song contract with Warner Bros., not a full studio contract as both Montag and her then-fiance, Spencer Pratt, had claimed.

In December 2007, another track by Montag and produced by David Foster entitled “Touch Me” was leaked online.

On February 5, 2008 Montag’s first single, “Higher” received an online-only release on iTunes. Along with the single, the accompanying video shot by boyfriend, Spencer Pratt, was also available to purchase. The song and the video received a negative response from websites and readers across the internet, to which Montag responded, “I appreciate people taking the time to write any comment.”

On March 25, 2008, Montag released her second single, “No More”, through iTunes.

In June 2008, Montag released two songs, her first official single, “Fashion” which was produced by RedOne who said Montag was “born a star”, and a track called “One More Drink”.[17] Montag also revealed interest in releasing a Christian music album.

On August 18, 2008, Montag released a song titled “Overdosin’”.

On August 26 at 1:00pm EST the music video for Overdosin’ had premiered on www.heidimontag.com. The video was 10 min and the music only plays for 4 of those minutes. Shortly after perezhilton.com premiered the video Heidi Montag’s website crashed. About 2 hours later the website was back online without the video.

Fashion line

Montag was enrolled in fashion school, but dropped out in 2005. She has been signed as the new spokesperson for Anchor Blue Clothing Company and will also design her own line for the company. The line is called “Heidiwood” and will be priced between $10 - $60.She debuted the line at a fashion show at the Hollywood and Highland shopping center in Hollywood on April 11, 2008.Shortly after, she promoted her line in New York City, at MTV’s TRL, among other places.

Personal life

Montag began dating Jordan Eubanks in 2005 and their relationship was featured on season one of The Hills. Montag broke off her relationship with Eubanks in the spring of 2006, a move that she has described as “the best decision of [her] life” and “something that should have done earlier”.

In the summer of 2006, Montag started dating fellow Hills cast member Spencer Pratt, a former manager of Brody Jenner. Season two of The Hills (which aired from January through April 2007) focused on Montag’s relationship with Pratt and its effect on her friendships with Conrad and Patridge. On The Hills’ season two finale, Montag moved out of her apartment with Conrad to live with Pratt.

In May 2007, Montag and Pratt announced their engagement. During The Hills season finale in December 2007, Montag and Pratt broke off their engagement. During a broadc