USNews | Hottest News Headlines from USA and The World

[NewsCaster]

Amidst all the negative things we hear about the government of Zimbabwe, it is easy to lose sight of the magnificent culture of the country. One of its jewels is the music of the mbira, an instrument that has been used for thousands of years for spiritual practice as well as for purely musical gatherings. It is through the mbira that that the ancestors are called upon to intercede for the supplicant. But more than this, the music enables the player and the listener to achieve a transcendental state. What is also remarkable is that this ancient instrument and its music are still capable of being modified and played in new ways.In the "grand right and left" that is networking in NYC, I found a visiting musician who is innovating in exactly this way.  When I interviewed Nora Balaban who studied mbira in Zimbabwe, she told me of a master player named Garikayi Tirikoti who was living only a few city blocks from me. And one day she showed up at my door with him.  He had brought a rucksack of mbiras, a deze (a large gourd studded with bottle caps, to amplify and distort the sound) and some shakers (hosho). He sat down on my floor and immediately set about educating me in mbira lore.More...

The Good News From Zimbabwe: Healing Music of the Mbira

[NewsCaster]

Toy Story 3 isn't a hard sell. Everyone loves Pixar. But the film's environmental angle hasn't gotten enough attention.

No spoilers here, but the story is all about the effects of our throwaway culture. It opens with a teenage Andy packing up for college, his mom instructing him to sort his childhood stuff -- including the old toys that, unbeknown to him, are endearingly anthropomorphic - into either trash bags to throw out or into attic-bound boxes. A mix-up ensues and the no-longer-wanted playthings end up headed to the dump.

Other filmmakers would do well to learn from the pitch-perfect scenes that unfold thereafter: Each proffers an exacting balance of action, heartwrench, and more than anything, comedy - we're treated to some truly riotous moments.

Excellent execution aside, TS3 is worthwhile for its take-home message. Wide-eyed, 3D-spectacled kids get to see, quite viscerally, what happens when they discard something (or someone) that's no longer shiny and new. After an array of engaging plot twists, the climactic sequence has as its stage an ominous landfill where the characters we've come to care for face a crushing demise.

Though the movie never even approaches feeling preachy, we come away with a newfound appreciation for our well-worn things, for the virtues of hand-me-downs, and for the fact that we should probably be pickier about what we accumulate -- and how much we cast off.

More...

An Environmentalist's View of Toy Story 3

[NewsCaster]

Here's the difference between you and Margaret Cho...Let's say that you'd been staying in a seedy motel in Casablanca and had become infested with head lice. Okay, we can techincally stop right there because the chances are that you have never stayed in a seedy motel in Casablanca and Margaret Cho has so that's one huge difference already. But for the purposes of comparison, let's keep going.  Now picture yourself standing at the front desk at checkout time with a head full of Moroccan lice and then ask yourself, "Is this a situation that would make me want to sit down and write a Dylan-esque song about it?"More...

Margaret Cho Talks About New Album, Gay Rights & Head Lice

[NewsCaster]

ERICA WERNER, Associated PressWASHINGTON - President Barack Obama used the anniversary of Social Security to trumpet Democrats' support for the popular program and accuse Republicans of trying to destroy it.More...

Obama Weekly Address: GOP Trying To Destroy Social Security (VIDEO)

[NewsCaster]

By now you've probably heard that Steve Carell is leaving his job on "The Office," which  means there will soon be an open spot at the boss's desk at Dunder Mifflin. The Internet is abuzz with rumors about NBC's picks, speculation about who could step in, and celebrity quotes showing or denying interest in the job. We put together all the people who've been rumored to be potential Michael Scott replacements, and a few others who we think could do a pretty good job. Who do YOU think should be the next Regional Manager? Don't forget to vote, and if you've got a better suggestion, submit them below by uploading a photo and adding a caption!More...

Who Do YOU Want To Replace Steve Carell On 'The Office'? (PHOTOS)

[NewsCaster]

Keith Olbermann blasted Dr. Laura Schlessinger Friday night — but not for her N-word rant.Instead, Olbermann focused on "what followed the fireworks," what he described as "the genuine blind ignorant racism."More...

Olbermann Blasts Dr. Laura: 'Genuine, Blind Ignorant Racism' (VIDEO)

[NewsCaster]

It's nonsense to think of the economy heading downward again into a double-dip recession when most Americans never emerged from the first dip. We're still in one long Big Dipper.More people are out of work today than were last year, counting everyone too discouraged even to look for work. The number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week to the highest level since February. Not counting temporary census workers, a total of only 12,000 net new private and public jobs were created in July -- when 125,000 are needed each month just to keep up with growth in the population of people who want and need to work.More...

Forget a Double-Dip, We're Still in One Long Big Dipper

[NewsCaster]

Though I have no loverI too rejoiceMore...

The Buddhist Gentleman: How to Buy Nice Clothes

[NewsCaster]

Despite a slew of independent investigations exonerating ACORN of misdeeds, on Friday, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned federal court Judge Nina Gershon's decision that cutting off ACORN's funding punished ACORN without a trial. Gershon had ordered the United States government to restore ACORN's funds.Congress canceled funding for the controversial group last year in the wake of highly edited, secret-video tapes, appearing to implicate the group in promoting prostitution. They were shown by Fox, CNN and on the blogosphere for several days, around the clock. ACORN employees never prepared tax returns, sign or submitted loan documents, or arranged bank loans. In most of the offices visited by the right wing activists, with their hidden camera, the ACORN staff turned them away, asked them to leave and then reported them to the police. In one case the staff took one of the activists posing as a prostitute to a counseling service for young women threatened by their pimp, the story the "prostitute" told to ACORN's staff to entrap them into saying something stupid.More...

Federal Appeals Court Reverses Court Decision That Barred Congress from cutting ACORN's Funds

[NewsCaster]

One of my favorite management tools is the implementation plan I develop to support my strategic plan.An implementation plan breaks each strategy into identifiable steps, assigns each step to one or more people and suggests when each step will be completed.  For example, if one strategy is to create a membership campaign, one step might be to design a membership brochure.  This project might be assigned to a member of the marketing or development staff and might be planned for completion in December of this year.More...

An Implementation Plan