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Over 150 fans gathered Thursday morning to hear Suzanne Collins read from "Mockingjay," the final installment in the author's blockbuster "Hunger Games" trilogy, at Scholastic's flagship store in SoHo. Fans at the store also received "custom stamped books" pressed with a unique stamp designed for Collins' book tour in lieu of signing books due to a hand injury."This is the biggest event since 'Harry Potter'," store manager Michael Strouse said. "We've been anticipating this book for over a year."More...

'Mockingjay' Author Suzanne Collins 'Stamps Books': WIN One Of 5 Signed Copies

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In 2008, economics graduate and former businessman Mark Boyle gave up the one resource we all crave more of: money. He sold his house, found a place to live where he could trade labor directly for accommodation, set up a rocket stove made from discarded catering cans, a solar shower, a veggie garden, and a compost toilet. And on November 28th (International Buy Nothing Day 2008), he became The Moneyless Man.In his new book "The Moneyless Man: A Year Of Freeconomic Living," Mark tells us how he did it and why. He answers practical questions, offers useful tips to cut down daily expenses, and relays the philosophical lessons he learned. What Mark discovered is that not only could he successfully eliminate his bills and reduce his carbon footprint, but that by living without money he ended up more productive, healthier and happier than ever.More...

The Moneyless Man: How Did Mark Boyle Spend A Year Without Spending A Dollar? (PHOTOS)

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Florence Rose Endellion Cameron, daughter of British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha, is only four days old, and she's already posing for cameras. Okay...it's not so much posing as it is kind of hanging out, wrapped in a blanket, but she is pretty darn cute. Check out the first pictures of Florence and get ready to say "awww!" We can't wait to see the outfits that Samantha has in store for Florence!More...

Florence Rose Endellion Cameron: First PHOTOS

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A mysterious fire last Friday destroys all of the voting machines in Harris County (Houston), Texas. Arson investigators have not yet issued an opinion. Meanwhile, a well-funded right-wing group emerges in Houston and begins raising unfounded allegations of widespread voter fraud. A video on their website pictures only people of color when it talks of voter fraud. White people are shown talking patriotically about the need for a million vigilantes to suppress illegal votes.In the video, an unidentified spokesman for "TrueTheVote" says, "If we lose Houston, we lose Texas. And guess what? If we lose Texas we lose the country." The former Mayor of Houston, Democrat Bill White, is running against secessionist  Republican Gov. Rick Perry this year. White's counting on a big turnout in his home town. The fire and the voter suppression campaign guarantee a greatly diminished turnout.More...

Possible Arson and the Right's Texas Voter Supression Effort

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"We are not going to sit idly by and watch you dismantle our environmental achievements...which are also economic achievements," says Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which represents over 300 of the valley's major companies (including HP, Google and IBM).In this exclusive Fresh Dialogues interview, we examine the controversial proposal to overturn AB 32, California's landmark climate change legislation.More...

Californian Leader Slams Proposal to Scrap Climate Legislation

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Palin-Murkowski

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The diversity of life on our planet is astounding. And given enough time and careful management of our natural resources, science will find cures for most of the ailments that afflict humankind.Between 40 and 90 million North Americans suffer from pain - it's the most common reason that people visit physicians. The annual cost of medical bills and lost wages easily exceeds $100 billion. Sales of morphine and morphine-derived products in the U.S. alone cost $650 million per year. Morphine is addictive, constipating and causes respiratory distress; and over time more of it is needed to obtain relief.More...

Mother Nature's Medicine Cabinet

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Presidents past, present and hypothetical dominated the news today. President Obama called on congressional Republicans to pass a small business tax bill and prepared for his Iraq drawdown speech tomorrow evening -- an event he will get psyched for by calling George W. Bush (?). On the other side of the aisle, Republicans wondered aloud about their 2012 contenders: Rick Perry says he's out, Tom Coburn will only vote for Newt Gingrich in some kind of "I Am Legend" situation and John Bolton may return facial hair to the Oval Office. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, August 30th, 2010:USA! USA! USA! OBAMA'S IRAQ ADDRESS TOMORROW - S-3 Vikings, aircraft carriers, flight suits and general political spectacle be damned. The president will ride in on a go-kart of modesty, alight at a bus stop of measured expectations, (dressed to the nines in his onesie of humility) and declare, once and for all, "MISSION REALIGNED WITH SHIFTING REGIONAL PRIORITIES." Yeah! The AP with a better sense of what's actually happening: "The White House says there are two words President Barack Obama will not say Tuesday night in his speech about the end of the U.S. combat role in Iraq: 'Mission accomplished.'...'You won't hear those words coming from us,' Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said. Instead, Gibbs said, Obama will talk about what is involved in the U.S. troop drawdown and the changing mission in Iraq. However, Obama does plan to call Bush on Tuesday before delivering his Oval Office address, Gibbs said, though he wouldn't say what Obama's message to his predecessor would be." http://yhoo.it/abxw3kMore...

HUFFPOST HILL - AUGUST 30TH, 2010

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From the Spring Democracy: A Journal of Ideas symposium, "What Happened?": Obama can still redefine liberalism, but he must bring economic power to heel.Imagine a president, or a presidential candidate, taking on Wall Street in blunt language such as this: "We have been dreading all along the time when the combined power of high finance would be greater than the power of the government. Have we come to a time when the president of the United States or any man who wishes to be the president must doff his cap in the presence of this high finance, and say, 'You are our inevitable master, but we will see how we can make the best of it'?"More...

Obama Must Assert Democratic Control Over Economic Forces

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Described by The New York Times as, "a treasure of fashion insiders," "Take Ivy" was originally published in Japan in 1965, setting off an explosion of American-influenced "Ivy Style" fashion among students in the trendy Ginza shopping district of Tokyo. The product of four collegiate style enthusiasts, "Take Ivy" is a collection of candid photographs shot in the early 1960s on the campuses of America's elite, Ivy League universities. The series focuses on men and their clothes, perfectly encapsulating the unique student fashion of the era. Whether lounging on the quad, studying in the library, riding bikes, in class, or at the boathouse, the subjects of "Take Ivy" are impeccably and distinctively dressed in the finest American-made garments of the time."Take Ivy" is now considered a definitive document of this particular style, and rare original copies are highly sought after by "trad" devotees worldwide. A small reprint appeared in Japan in 2006 and sold out almost immediately. Now, for the first time ever, powerHouse is reviving this classic tome with an all-new English translation. Prep style has never been more popular, in Japan or stateside, proving its timeless and transcendent appeal. "Take Ivy" has survived the decades and is an essential object for anyone interested in the history or future of fashion.More...

Ivy League Style: 'Take Ivy' Japanese Love Affair With 1960s Preppy Ivy League Style (PHOTOS)