TresSugar

Polygamist Leader Calls His Arrest Religious Prosecution

LibertySugar — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:30:06 -0800

The leader of a polygamous community in Canada says authorities are engaging in religious persecution by charging him with practicing polygamy.

Winston Blackmore claims there are tens of thousands of polygamists across Canada, but that his religious sect is being targeted and authorities are disregarding his right to religious freedom. He told the media: "This is not about polygamy, to us this is about religious persecution.

Authorities arrested both Blackmore, 52, and another man with polygamous factions in British Columbia. Blackmore is charged with marrying 20 women (that's a lot more than anyone on Big Love!) and Oler is accused of marrying two women. The case will be the first test of Canada's polygamy laws.

Photo courtesy of HBO

No Gold: Visits to China Down in 2008 Despite Olympics

CitizenSugar — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:05:50 -0800

The number of visitors to China dropped by two million last year to 130 million, despite the enormous fanfare and draw of the 2008 Olympics. It was the first decline in visitor numbers since 2003, when an outbreak of SARS knocked the country off desired vacay location lists.

The slump has been attributed to the weak economy, which hasn't been kind to the tourism industry as a whole, stricter visa restrictions before the Beijing Olympics, as well as a May earthquake in the southwest of the country.

Only 389,000 foreign tourists visited Beijing the month of the games, including travelers from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, according to the Beijing tourism bureau. That number is much smaller than the 500,000 the bureau expected. China built the world's largest airport terminal before the Olympics and most of the major hotels in Beijing underwent costly renovations and changes from top to bottom.

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Will the Nation's Switch to Digital TV Be Postponed?

LibertySugar — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:35:29 -0800

The Consumers Union wants Congress to delay the nation's transition to digital television because it believes the program to help American's transition has been underfunded and poorly implemented. It was announced earlier this week that the $1.3 billion dollar program to offset the cost of buying converter boxes is all tapped out.

All full-power television stations in the US are required to stop using the old method of transmitting TV signals, known as analog, and start broadcasting exclusively in a digital format on Feb. 17. Americans who use an antenna to watch free, over-the-air television on an analog TV set (and don't subscribe to a pay TV service) will need to purchase a DTV converter box. (Don't worry, if you pay for TV services, such as cable or satellite, then you will not need to upgrade - geeksugar has all the details.) Up until now the government was giving out discount coupons worth $40 to help lessen the cost to consumers, but those funds all wore out and there is now a long waiting list.

What's interesting about the deadline is that it's the first time the government has ever shut off technology that everyone uses. Estimates suggest there are 70 million TVs in the United States that use antennas. Their owners will all see blank screens on the 17th, unless they have a digital converter box.

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Obama, Bush, and Ex-Presidents Have Historic Lunch

CitizenSugar — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:35:05 -0800

President-elect Barack Obama, President Bush, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton (that's all of the surviving past presidents) met up for lunch at the White House today in a historic gathering. Collectively the bunch has more than 30 years of presidential experience. Bush, who sat down with Obama recently, said:

One message that I have, and I think we all share, is that we want you to succeed. Whether we're Democrat or Republican, we care deeply about this country.

Obama said he was grateful for the opportunity to get "advice, good counsel and fellowship" from the group. A White House spokeswoman said the last time all of the living presidents got together at the White House was in 1981. Apparently, all five men, including Clinton and Carter, who are not exactly friendly with one another, were on their best behavior and put aside differences for the day. To see a short video of what the bunch had to say, read more.

What do you think they really talked about?
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Indian Airline Fires Overweight Flight Attendants

CitizenSugar — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:07:58 -0800

India's government-run Air India airline has dumped 10 female fight attendants who were grounded last year for being overweight. A report says the firings occurred after the cabin crew was warned about meeting minimum physical fitness standards (as in, not being thin enough, apparently) and given "sufficient time to lose weight." The report also says the flight attendants were offered alternative ground assignments, which they understandably refused.

Last year, the airline won the right to prevent attendants from taking flight for carrying on extra weight after Air India cited contract clauses that barred stewardesses from flight duties if they put on too much weight. The company is up against private airlines (who don't clothe their employees in saris) and seems to focus their competitive efforts on their employees' looks. At a recent recruitment drive the airline refused applicants with acne or bad teeth.

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Three! Two! One! and One More! 2008 Will Last an Extra Second

LibertySugar — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 03:00:27 -0800

Ready to say adios to 2008? You are going to have to wait one whole second longer this New Year's Eve. The world's official timekeepers (who knew we had them?!) have added what they call a leap second to the last day of the year to help sync clocks to the earth's slowing spin on its axis.

The US Naval Observatory - the keeper of the Pentagon's master clock - will add the extra second on Wednesday in coordination with the world's atomic clocks at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time (that's 6:59:59 p.m. EST). It's the 24th second to be added since 1972, when the practice began.

So take one extra second today to soak in all your accomplishments! And don't worry, when the fireworks go off, it's really time to sing "Auld Lang Syne" and lean in for your kiss.

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Stalin Voted Third Most Popular Russian in History

CitizenSugar — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:01:26 -0800

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was voted Russia's third most popular historical figure in a nationwide poll that ended this weekend. Stalin's notable superlative comes despite the famine and purges (which included sending people to labor camps and millions of deaths) that marked his dictatorship.

The "Name of Russia" contest was run by the Rossiya state television channel for about six months and closed Sunday night with a final vote from the Internet or cell phones. It drew more than 50 million votes out of the nation's 143 million citizens.

Stalin was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953. Millions of Soviets died from famine during forced collectivization, were executed as "enemies of the people" or died in hard labor camps during his rule.

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Let It Snow in N.O.! Winter Comes Early For the South

LibertySugar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:40:00 -0800

The last time New Orleans saw snow was a white Christmas day in 2004, and the Southern city has only been painted white 17 times since 1850. But this morning residents woke up to as much as six inches of snowflakes.

Today marks the earliest date for snowfall in the city, and the rare weather found some unprepared. The snow halted bus services and flights out of Armstrong International Airport, and students at a few universities and schools are enjoying the freedom of a snow day.

Meanwhile in Houston, TX, snow fell last night, tying a 65-year record for earliest snow date. Check out these pictures from a very wintry New Orleans! Should residents worry about climate change, or just enjoy the Winter wonderland?

To see more pictures, read more.

View 10 Photos ›

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All In a Name: Obama's Simple Plan to Reach Out to Muslims

LibertySugar — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:30:22 -0800

Just like all presidents before him, the President-elect plans to be sworn in using his full name: Barack Hussein Obama. Although Obama said that by using his full name, he's just doing what every other president did, he also told the Chicago Tribune, that he has a unique opportunity to renovate relations with the Muslim world. He hopes to "create a relationship of mutual respect and partnership in countries and with peoples of goodwill who want their citizens and ours to prosper together."

Obama's Muslim-community outreach won't end on Inauguration Day. The president-elect also plans to deliver a major address in an Islamic capital as president.

The election of the first African-American president with the middle name "Hussein" surely reveals an openness not seen in many other countries. Maybe all those Obama supporters who changed their middle names to Hussein on Facebook actually reduced the stigma, transforming the name from a campaign liability to a tool of US diplomacy.

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Local Ford Dealer Blasts Americans Who Buy Toyotas

LibertySugar — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:30:01 -0800

A South Carolina Ford dealer wants Americans to put the brakes on buying foreign cars, and he's using the radio to accelerate the spread of this message. In a controversial ad the local dealer chastises Toyota customers saying:

All you people that buy all your Toyotas and send that money to Japan, you know, when you don't have a job to make your Toyota car payment, don't come crying to me. All those cars are rice ready. They're not road ready.

Since he began running the ad, the Ford dealer said he's experienced a boom in business and positive feedback. But not everyone's excited about the controversial ad, claiming that it reeks of racist undertones. Besides, 60 percent of Toyotas sold in the US were in fact made in America, according to the Japanese company.

Even if the radio ad wasn't the most tasteful marketing pitch, do you think Americans have an obligation to buy American brands, or do the car companies have an obligation to produce something Americans want to buy?

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