Phil Spector convicted of murder by AFP Legendary US music producer Phil Spector on Monday was found guilty of second degree murder in the shooting death of an actress at his mansion in Los Angeles six years ago.Spector, 69, who created the famed "Wall of Sound" recording technique during the 1960s when he worked with some of the biggest names in music, stared glumly as the verdict was read out.
Porn star Marilyn Chambers dead at 56 by Jill Serjeant LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Porn star Marilyn Chambers, who made waves in the 1970s by having screen sex with an African-American, has been found dead at her Los Angeles home at the age of 56, coroner's officials said on Monday.The Los Angeles coroner's office said an autopsy would be carried out to determine the cause of her death late on Sunday night.
Passenger lands plane in Fla. after pilot dies by Christine Armario TAMPA, Fla. - Doug White and his family had just enjoyed a smooth takeoff and were ascending through the clouds when the pilot guiding their twin-engine plane tilted his head back and made a guttural sound.The pilot, Joe Cabuk, was unconscious. And though White had his pilot's licence, he had never flown a plane as large as this. "I need help. I need a King Air pilot to talk to. We're in trouble," he radioed.
Local Police Increasingly Target Migrant Communities by William Fisher NEW YORK - Alleged abuses of a little-known section of U.S. immigration law have triggered charges of racial and ethnic profiling and diverting local law enforcement from their crime-fighting mission.Known as 287(g), the regulation allows the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, part of the massive Department of Homeland Security, to deputize local police to enforce federal immigration law.
Tea Parties Forever by Paul Krugman This is a column about Republicans — and I’m not sure I should even be writing it.Today’s G.O.P. is, after all, very much a minority party. It retains some limited ability to obstruct the Democrats, but has no ability to make or even significantly shape policy.
Obama to allow travel, money transfers to Cuba by Jennifer Loven WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama directed his administration Monday to allow unlimited travel and money transfers by Cuban Americans to family in Cuba, and to take other steps to ease U.S. restrictions on the island, a senior administration official told The Associated Press.
Krugman: 'Republicans have become embarrassing to watch' by Ron Brynaert Pulling no punches in his latest New York Times op-ed, Paul Krugman writes that "Republicans have become embarrassing to watch."Krugman writes, This is a column about Republicans — and I’m not sure I should even be writing it. Today’s G.O.P. is, after all, very much a minority party. It retains some limited ability to obstruct the Democrats, but has no ability to make or even significantly shape policy.
Amazon sparks Web fury by de-ranking books with gay content by Rachel Oswald Amazon.com found itself at the center of a Web outcry over the weekend when word spread that the on-line sales company had abruptly de-ranked hundreds of book titles with gay subject matter on the grounds that they were too 'adult.'Books without sales rankings do not show up in Amazon's bestseller lists, no matter how many copies they have sold.
Leonard Cohen Works For A Living by RJ Eskow Who would have guessed that Leonard Cohen was a contender for James Brown's title as The Hardest Working Man in Show Business? Cohen's Friday night appearance at L.A.'s Nokia Theater was a riveting three-hour music marathon, complete with wit, charm, and snippets of poetry that mesmerized the crowd.
Tomgram: Roane Carey Asks, Will Israel Attack Iran? by Tom Engelhardt — from TomDispatchSometimes, reading about the Middle East, or at least about Israel, Iran, and nuclear weapons, feels like your most basic broken-record phenomenon. As New York Times op-ed columnist Roger Cohen reminded readers recently, there's nothing new about Israeli predictions that Iranian "madmen" -- or rather, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of a rather extreme new government, put it recently, "a messianic apocalyptic cult" -- would soon have nuclear weapons in their hands. The charges and predictions of the imminent arrival of the Iranian bomb go back well into the 1990s and yet, despite Iran's growing nuclear enrichment program, we still don't know what the true predilections of its leaders are on the basic issue of weaponization. (They might, for instance, be planning to opt for the Japan "solution," not weaponizing, but simply being capable of doing so relatively quickly.)
Wall Street Salary Caps Drive Away Assholes - Experts Warn of 'Douchebag Drain' by Andy Borowitz As the federal government moves to institute salary caps for Wall Street executives, an increasing number of assholes are seeking employment elsewhere, a study confirmed today.According to the report commissioned by the University of Minnesota's School of Business, at a time when the economy needs experienced hands at the tiller, some of the financial world's best-trained dickwads are fleeing the ship.
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz touts faith-based department by Tania Valdemoro Miami Mayor Manny Diaz has courted religious groups to work with City Hall on community outreach.When Miami Mayor Manny Diaz leaves office in November, he departs with a mixed legacy: from a construction boom that reshaped downtown to a fire fee fiasco and controversy over a $3 billion public works megaplan.
