Thursday
Dec272012
Happy Valentine's Day - Here is your card! Feb 13, 2010
Thursday, December 27, 2012 at 12:28AM
It's that time again. Sunday is Love Day!
Here is your card. ::Click Here:: Enjoy!
World News Archives:
Here are the posts from the blog I created on myspace titled, The Pencil Kissed The Paper. That blog is in the process of deletion.
Recently, I created a new (The Pencil Kissed The Paper) blog on WordPress but with different content.
Most of the posts from the myspace blog were hard news articles from around the world.
That is why I made the effort to archive them here. At some point the link to his section will find it's way to another blog I created titled "The World Stage" on WordPress.
Starting in 2013 (The World Stage) will have also International news stories and features.
Including all the news from the Olympic Games. However, when the Olympics begin no other news items will be posted until the games are other.
Wednesday
Dec262012
Olympics, Africa, Iran, China, Rio, Haiti, Prince Charles, Beyonce, Alicia, Angelina & More
Why the Olympics still matter If you want to know why the Olympics still matter, meet a guy named Tony Benshoof. He's 34, an Olympic Everyman who slides feet first down mountains made of ice, seeking perfection during every lonely day of training. His sport is luge. He fell in love with the terrifying discipline when he was just a kid sitting in front of a television set at his home in White Bear Lake, Minn., watching the spectacle of the 1988 Winter Olympics. He could do that, hop a sled and race down ice at 80 miles an hour. He sacrificed school – it took him 10 years to graduate from college. He put his work career on hold – tended bar, worked construction, and stocked shelves. And he taxed his body, injuring his back three times since 2006. But every four years, for a few brief seconds, the world pays attention to Benshoof and all those like him. "You can take the Olympics in any way you want," says Benshoof, a three-time Olympian. "At its core, it's a group of athletes who are competing to win for their country. At the purest level, the Olympics are still a great thing."
Josh Groban Takes Tonic Inside the "We Are The World" Remake!
By KC Baker | Wednesday, February 3, 2010 The singer shares memories from Monday's historic session where he joined Barbra Streisand, Wyclef Jean, Usher, Adam Levine, Kanye West, The Jonas Brothers and more all to benefit Haiti. Josh Groban was only three years old when the original version of "We Are the World" exploded onto the music scene, inspiring millions to help fight famine in Africa. The 28-year-old singer and songwriter grew up with the charity classic, which he has checked out over the years on YouTube and "which was ingrained in our psyches," he tells Tonic. "Never in a million years" did he think that one day he, too, would be a part of the 25th Anniversary remake of the landmark, multi-platinum song, which raised more than $63 million for Africa, he says. Yet, on Feb. 1, a day after the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, he stood with other music industry giants at the former A&M Studios in Los Angeles the very spot where the first version was recorded on Feb. 18, 1985 — to use his God-given talents to sing for Haiti.
Catholic Church Works To Rebuild After Loss In Haiti
The Catholic Church is trying to rebuild in Haiti after last month's devastating earthquake, which killed many of its church members. Father Andrew Small works for the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has already donated equipment and money to restart the Catholic radio station in Port-au-Prince. Host Michel Martin talks to the Catholic leader about rebuilding efforts. Article Continued Here
Slideshow: Angelina Jolie arrives in Haiti as UN Goodwill Ambassador (photos, videos)
U.S. actress and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie arrived in Haiti following a visit to the Dominican Republic as a representative for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. During her visit to the Dominican Republic, Angelina Jolie met with President Leonel Fernandez as she toured the National Palace in Santa Domingo. She visited a hospital in the Dominican Republic where refugees displaced from the Haiti earthquake were receiving medical care. Speaking about the Dominican Republic she stated, "I was heartened to see the care being provided by Dominican doctors and nurses and to witness the generosity of local society, which is caring for discharged patients and their families in their recovery."
Alicia Keys film Duet with Beyonce in Brazil for the song, "Put It In A Love Song"
The pair are currently filming a clip for their duet Put It In A Love Song, which features on Alicia's recently released album, The Element Of Freedom. Article Continued Here
Alex Cuba: Cuban Soul That Runs In The Family
November 15, 2009 - Alexis Puentes has been in the family business since he was 4. That's when he joined his dad and a group of 24 guitarists in a performance aired on Cuban national TV. His father, respected guitarist and teacher Valentin Puentes, was so particular about his children's musical education that he controlled the music his son listened to. The younger Puentes now records as Alex Cuba. In his music, you can hear how he's blended his father's musical influence — and stories from the Cuban countryside — with a touch of '70s soul.
Article Continued & Music Here
Cuba Day By Day - On Behind the Guides
This week I caught up with Claire Boobbyer, author of our new Cuba Day by Day. On the back of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution last year we talk about what makes Cuba such a fascinating country and how it is changing. guide. Claire undertook a 5,000km road trip around the country for the new book from the far west - Cabo San Antonio - to the far east around Baracoa, taking some great photography on the way.
Turkey agrees to work closely with India on global terrorism
NEW DELHI: India and Turkey on Tuesday unveiled a joint declaration on terrorism which New Delhi considers a breakthrough because in it, Ankara has agreed to "recognise the need" for the conclusion of the India-initiated Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT). During the ongoing visit of Turkish President Abdullah Gul, both countries also agreed to work towards developing an action plan with timelines and specific measures after taking into account the existing structures of cooperation, such as the Joint Working Group against Terrorism. Article Contiued Here
Uganda dismisses Obama criticism of Anti-Gay Bill
KAMPALA — Uganda's ethics minister on Thursday dismissed virulent criticism of his country's proposed anti-gay law by US President Barack Obama and warned that any interference would be "unacceptable".
"Somebody should tell President Obama that the parliament is doing its legislative duty in the interest of the people of Uganda," James Nsaba Buturo, Ugandan minister of ethics and integrity, told AFP. Article Continued Here
The Royal Shakespeare Company Comes To Lincoln Center Festival 2011...
Lincoln Center Festival and Park Avenue Armory, in association with The Ohio State University will bring the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) to New York in July and August 2011 for an unprecedented six-week residency. The joint announcement was made today by Nigel Redden, Director, Lincoln Center Festival; Rebecca Robertson, President and CEO, Park Avenue Armory; and Michael Boyd, Artistic Director of the RSC.
Ringo Starr returned to the iconic Capitol Records Tower and a gathering of several hundred Beatles fans to celebrate the unveiling of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday night.
"I want to thank Capitol Records," Starr said to cheers, glancing up at the tower. "It's nice to look at a building that you helped pay for."
Royal Premiere for Alice In Wonderland
Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway are set to join the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles at the royal world premiere of Alice In Wonderland. Tim Burton's eagerly-awaited 3D fantasy adventure features Johnny as the Mad Hatter, Anne as the White Queen, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Mia Wasikowska as Alice and Little Britain's Matt Lucas as Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Article Continued Here 'Alice In Wonderland'
Star Mia Wasikowska Explains How She And Tim Burton Made Alice Their Own
By Cara Alwill
Mia Wasikowska may not be a familiar name just yet, but as the star of Tim Burton's remake of "Alice in Wonderland," she is sure to become a household name very soon. The 20-year-old Australian starlet graces the cover of the new Teen Vogue (on newsstands Feb. 9), and in the issue we learn more about this beautiful ballerina-turned-actress. Article Cotinued Here
The Prince's Foundation for Children & the Arts is an educational charity committed to helping children experience the arts in a high quality and sustained way. We provide access for young people who would otherwise grow up having had no or very limited opportunity to engage with the arts. Children who take part are drawn from both urban and rural areas of deprivation and come from a variety of backgrounds. Many have behavioural and learning difficulties. Read More
In pictures: China's Expo pavilion opens
The Expo will last for six months, after which the pavilion will be converted into a museum for Chinese history and culture. Photos V-Day and Chinese New Year converge: Celebration Guide Valentine's Day comes every year in a dust devil of chocolates, heart-shaped cards, cupids, Necco Sweethearts and dread. But this year, it's so much more: this year, Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year happen on the same day. This is a rare convergence -- it's only the third time since 1900 -- and it won't happen again until after 2030. Added to that, it's the year of the Tiger, which traditionally symbolizes great passion. All of this can signal only one thing: No one should be staying home eating bon bons on the couch. It's time to paint the town red, which is the color of Chinese New Year, after all. Article Continued Here & Photos
Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year fall on the same day this year, but it is a fleeting embrace. Because Chinese New Year is determined by the lunar calendar, they won't be together again for decades. Despite the rarity of their rendezvous, the two holidays really are quite compatible. Both are associated with the color red and, in a way, both celebrate wishes. On Valentine's Day, we wish to find love, sustain love...
Article Celebrating With Bundles of Joy
First known video of rare wild Sumatran tigers
A video camera in the jungles of Indonesia has captured the first known footage of Sumatran tigers in the wild. It has boosted efforts to conserve the endangered species, an environmental group said. The video, shot in October 2009 on Sumatra, shows two year-old cubs and their mother approaching and sniffing the camera before moving on. The World Wildlife Fund's tiger research team set up four video camera traps along well known tiger routes. The routes allow the animals to move between two protected areas in central Sumatra, the Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve and Bukit Tigapuluh National Park. Karishma Vaswani reports.
Worldview: Iran should free the hikersThe regime gains nothing by keeping three Americans imprisoned By Trudy Rubin Inquirer Opinion Columnist
More U.S. and international attention should be focused on the plight of three American hikers who have been languishing in solitary confinement in Tehran's notorious Evin prison for six months. They have had no access to a lawyer or any communication with their families, who have no idea of their condition or mental state. This is a case that could - and still should - be resolved on a humanitarian basis. But it has become caught in the web of Iran's domestic politics and troubles with the outside world. On Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggested that the Americans be exchanged for 11 Iranians supposedly held in the United States. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ruled out such a swap and called for the release of the hikers. There is no parallel between them and Ahmadinejad's list, which includes defectors and men convicted of illegal arms deals. The three Americans, all University of California at Berkeley graduates, went astray while trekking in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan, where they apparently crossed an unmarked border into Iran. The Tehran prosecutor said Iran might charge them with espionage, but no charges have been brought.
Starbucks' new heart cup reminds customers of its partnership with (Red) to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa by Melissa Allison
A new cup at Starbucks' U.S. stores features a heart and a reminder about the company's commitment to the (Red), an organization that partners with big companies like Nike, Gap and Starbucks to help people with HIV in Africa.