George Carlin, died at 71

George Carlin, 71, the much-honored American stand-up comedian whose long career was distinguished by pointed social commentary that placed him on the cultural cutting edge, died last night in Santa Monica, Calif.

His death was reported by the Reuters news agency and on the Los Angeles Times Web site. He had long struggled with health problems and a heart condition dating to the 1970s.

Carlin was selected last week by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to receive this year's Mark Twain Prize, a lifetime achievement award presented to an outstanding comedian.

Over a career of half a century, Carlin placed himself in the forefront of comic commentators on the American scene. He was particularly known for an album that referred to what he described as the seven words that could not be used on television.

The playing of the album on a radio station led to a case that went to the Supreme Court, and the material was judged indecent but not obscene. The legal controversy brought about the enunciation of a rule permitting a ban on certain material when children are most likely to be in the audience.


The case was one of the highlights of a career that included TV and radio performances, including HBO specials and many comic albums.

The New York-born performer, who also was an Air Force veteran, once summed up his approach:

"I think it is the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."

Carlin's entertainment career began in 1956 at a radio station in Shreveport, La. while he was in the service.

In the early 1960s, he began his one-man act, and his live appearances and the albums he recorded proved highly popular.

His wife Brenda, predeceased him. They had a daughter, Kelly. A second wife survives him.

he reason Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had to be bailed out.

The reason of the rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needed a helping hand.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy mortgages from approved lenders and then sell them on to investors - rather than lending directly to borrowers
They guarantee or own about half of the $12 trillion US mortgage market. They are relied on by almost all US mortgage lenders. Banks look for funds to meet consumer demand for mortgages when mortgage lenders are linked with investors - they help to keep the supply of money widely available and at a lower cost.

FREDDIE MAC & FANNIE MAE are the two largest firms that buy mortgages from approved lenders and then sell them on to investors - rather than lending directly to borrowers
They have guaranted or own about half of the $12 trillion US mortgage market. They are relied on by almost all US mortgage lenders and are looked to for funds to meet consumer demand for mortgages.

The companies have been taken under government control because they, according to President Bush, pose "an unacceptable risk" to the economy.
It will cost the US taxpayer at least $200bn to rebuild their capital - and the cost could be a lot higher if the US housing market continues to plummet.
Here is a unique that you may did not know... Despite Fannie and Freddy guaranteeing or owning just under half of the entire US mortgage market, you cannot actually get a home loan from either firm.
But while they are invisible to the average borrower, the two firms are highly influential institutions and are key to the US housing market.
As one US Treasury official puts it, the two firms are "way too intertwined with everyone in the world" to fail. Because banks around the world are highly exposed to the two companies.
And, given the unstable state of markets across the world, it had become dangerous for doubts to persist about whether they were viable and would be able to keep up the payments on their massive liabilities, said the BBC's business editor Robert Peston.
The Accounting flaws of the housing market turmoil has caused the firms great damage, its problems appear to be partly be to do with the way it managed its accounts - which had the effect of overstating its capital resources and financial stability.
The New York Times reported that Freddie Mac had pushed losses it had already incurred into the fourth quarter of 2008 - meaning that it would not have to be revealed until next year.
Fannie Mae had done something similar, but to a lesser extent, the paper said, adding that neither firm had necessarily breached accounting rules.
Both firms had also factored in tax benefits on profits that they were yet to see - credits which are worthless until profits are actually made - something neither has managed in the past year.
It was investigations by the Federal authorities into these irregularities that helped prompt the government to act.
The guarantees given by the US government were no longer enough. Even as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had profited from the US housing boom.
As the value of US homes soared, the importance of these two institutions grew in allowing people to purchase property.
The two firms do not lend directly to homebuyers, instead buying mortgage debt from approved lenders such as banks, and then selling it on to investors.

Almost all US mortgage lenders, from huge financial institutions such as Citigroup to small, local banks, rely on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, looking to them for the funds they need to meet consumer demand for mortgages.
The two firms argue that they make home ownership more affordable, lowering the interest rates on the 30-year mortgages that they guarantee.
But their peculiar status has left them in a grey area between being government owned and private sector, with potential risks to the taxpayer should they need bailing out.

The rescue at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae contrast with the recent collapse of California-based IndyMac Bank - the second-largest financial institution to fail in US history, regulators say.
IndyMac had been struggling to raise funds and stay in business in one of the states worst hit by the US housing market slump.
Without similar close links to government it could not weather the storm, and went into administration.
But it is clear that Washington wants to keep Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae alive and kicking, not least so that they can play a key role in reinvigorating the housing market.
But there is a strong consensus that the price of not intervening would be far worse.

Don Haskin died at 78

The greatest triumph was mostly a memory when Disney decided to take another look. Then came the movie "Glory Road" and a whole new generation learned what Bob Knight already knew about his old friend's career — and legacy.


"Don got more out of his teams and players than any coach who has ever coached college basketball," Knight said.

Haskins, the Hall of Fame coach credited with helping break color barriers in college sports in 1966 when he used five black starters to win a national basketball title for Texas Western, died Sunday. He was 78.

Dr. Dwayne Aboud, Haskins' physician, told reporters Sunday that Haskins had been suffering from congestive heart failure and died at home about 4:30 p.m. He was surrounded by friends and relatives, Aboud said.

"As many of you know, Coach Haskins has had some cardiac problems. He opted not to go back to the hospital but to remain at home," Aboud said, standing outside the UTEP basketball arena named for Haskins.

As word of Haskins' death spread Sunday afternoon, those who knew him were quick to sing his praises.

"The word unique does not begin to describe Don Haskins," Knight, the winningest men's coach in the sport's history, said Sunday. "There is no one who has ever coached that I respected and admired more than Don Haskins. I've had no better friend that I enjoyed more than Don Haskins."

"The myth that surrounds Don Haskins in the movie 'Glory Road' and what he did for black players is better said that he cared like that for all his players," Knight added. "To me that tells me more about the man than anything. ... There was never anyone like him before and there will never be one like him again."

Haskins, who was white, was an old-time coach who believed in hard work and was known for his gruff demeanor. That attitude was portrayed in the 2006 movie that chronicled Haskins' improbable rise to national fame in the 1966 championship game against an all-white, heavily favored Kentucky team coached by Adolph Rupp.

Nolan Richardson, who coached Arkansas to a national title, played for two years under Haskins.

"I think one of the truest legacies that he could ever leave was what happened in 1966. He was never political. Those were the times and the days the black kids didn't play at other schools, but he started five and was able to win with them without worrying about what color they were," Richardson said.

Haskins retired in 1999 after 38 seasons at the school. He had a 719-353 record and won seven Western Athletic Conference titles. He took UTEP to 14 NCAA tournaments and to the NIT seven times and briefly worked as an adviser with the Chicago Bulls.

Haskins, 19th on the Division I men's victory list, turned down several more lucrative offers, including one with the now-defunct American Basketball Association, to remain at UTEP as one of the lowest paid coaches in the WAC.

Former coach Eddie Sutton said Haskins "had a tremendous impact on the college game. Anybody who's been around college basketball dating back to those days, they've seen how it changed after Texas Western won the national championship."

Sutton said he hadn't talked to Haskins for at least six weeks.

"Don had not been in good health and was having a hard time," Sutton said. "He'll be dearly missed. He was a great basketball coach."

Haskins, born in Enid, Okla., played for Hall of Fame coach Henry "Hank" Iba at Oklahoma State, back when the school was still Oklahoma A&M. Haskins was later an assistant under Iba for the 1972 U.S. Olympic team in Munich.

As a coach, Haskins became a star early in his career by leading his Miners to the 1966 NCAA championship game, then making the controversial decision to start five blacks against Kentucky. The Miners won 72-65, and shortly after that many schools began recruiting black players.

"He took a school that had no reason to be a basketball giant and made it into one," Knight said.

Haskins said he wasn't trying to make a social statement with his lineup; he was simply starting his best players. The move, however, raised the ire of some who sent Haskins hate mail and even death threats during the racially charged era.

"When they won the national championship against the University of Kentucky, that changed college basketball," Sutton said. "At that time, there weren't many teams in the South or Southwest that had African-Americans playing. There was a change in the recruiting of the black athlete. It really changed after that. They've had a great impact on the game."

The coach always was focused on the game of basketball. He had a reputation for working his players hard.

"Our practices wore us out so much that we'd have to rest up before the games," said Harry Flournoy, a starter in the 1966 championship. "If you work hard all the time and if you go after every loose ball, you see things like that (championship) happen."

Haskins helped Nate Archibald, Tim Hardaway and Antonio Davis, among others, make it to the NBA.

In November 2000, Haskins was awarded the John Thompson Foundation's Outstanding Achievement Award during a tournament hosted by Arkansas.

"We couldn't think of anyone that deserves this recognition more than coach Haskins," Richardson said. "He opened the door for African-American players to play basketball."

Former UTEP and current Kentucky coach Billy Gillespie said every conversation he had with Haskins left an impression.

"I looked forward to the phone calls after each and every game. He was watching almost every game of our team," Gillespie said. "It was just like having another coach on the bench present at every single practice. I took every single thing he said to heart. I knew he didn't have any agenda, he was just trying to help one of his friends win a game."

Doc Sadler, also a former UTEP coach and now head coach at Nebraska, said Haskins called frequently last season just to discuss strategy and outcome.

"If you were one of his guys, you were one of his guys," Sadler said. "He was bigger than life. The word I was told was that he was the John Wayne of college basketball. He had that much respect."

Haskins was hired in 1961 as a virtual unknown. Ben Collins, the school's athletic director at the time, said he consulted people who knew more about basketball than he did. And from the beginning, Collins said Sunday, he never had a second thought.

"He was a success almost from his first year," Collins said. "That in itself speaks a lot about his ability as a basketball coach."

Haskins' health had been an issue for several years, stretching back to his final season at UTEP when he was often forced to remain seated during games. The program that Haskins built struggled after twice being slapped with NCAA sanctions. Serious health concerns continued in his retirement. In the midst of a series of book signings and other appearances Haskins was hospitalized with various woes.

In recent weeks his health had declined rapidly, prompting friends and some former players to make special visits to see the ailing coach.

"It was a blessing ... for us to go by and visit with Coach Haskins," said Togo Railey, a guard/forward for Haskins' 1966 team.

"He was still just full of life, as sick as he was. We talked about of our old friends. Don, as sick as he was, had a little smirk on his face and was telling jokes and fibbing on one and another. It was just a blessing."

After his retirement, Haskins kept close ties with the Miners. The school's most recent hire, Tony Barbee, said he even met with Haskins just after accepting the job.

"We are losing a national treasure," Barbee said. "I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to get to know him over the last two years. The information he shared with me was invaluable to a first-time head coach. He is a Hall of Fame coach and a Hall of Fame person."

UTEP athletic director Bob Stull called Haskins an "icon."

"He has had a huge impact on the city and the University of Texas at El Paso," Stull said. "He remains one of the most revered and honored coaches in basketball history. His decision to start five black players in the 1966 national championship game ... changed college basketball and the sports world. He will always be remembered for that."

Haskins is survived by wife Mary and son Brent, David and Steve. A fourth son, Mark, died in 1994.

Rashad Evans stops Chuck Liddell with one punch

ATLANTA — Returning from a long layoff, UFC star Chuck Liddell had the crowd. He had the momentum, chasing Rashad Evans around the Octagon on Saturday.
With one punch, Evans changed all that, landing an overhand right that instantly dropped Liddell. Referee Herb Dean rushed to stop the fight, and doctors immediately jumped in the ring to tend to Liddell.
Evans, unbeaten but unheralded coming into the fight, raised his record to 17-0-1. Liddell, losing for the third time in his last four fights, dropped to 21-6.
STRIKES & SUBMISSIONS: UFC 88 play-by-play
UFC's former light heavyweight champion and breakout celebrity star stalked Evans through the first round but couldn't land a clean shot. After a rare flurry of punches, Evans danced and smiled. But the former Michigan State wrestler did little to challenge Liddell other than a couple of ineffective leg kicks.
Evans countered and opened a small cut on Liddell's cheek in the second round, but Liddell continued to press the action. Evans seemed intent on luring Liddell into a defensive mistake. He got it, then capitalized with stunning brutality. The former champion dropped with a thud, then remained in a daze for several minutes.
"I was trying to get him to come out of his comfort zone because usually he likes you to chase him," Evans said.

Enough is enough

I look at the actions of conservative, and even moderate, republicans and it makes me sad. On so many issue they simply attack the person and not the issue. There are groups that taunght pregnant women and in extreme cases bomb clinics killing people. Do you know of any groups on the otherside of the issue taunght women for having a baby and not getting an abortion. Have you ever heard of a clinic being bombed because they perform deliveries of babies? Have you ever heard of someone being beat up because they were not gay?


To liberial you simply are saying that you believe that it is OK for people to have their own moral values. I believe that in some, if not many, cases abortion is immoral. I believe that in almost ever circumstance abortion is not the right answer. But there is no place for me in the pro-life movement because I also believe that just because I feel this way doesn't mean you must as well. In most cases, I do not agree with a woman who choses to have an abortion, however I do not think I have the right to make that choice for her.


I would never engage in a gay relationship, homosexuality seems unnatural to me, however I would never hurt someone for having a different opinion than me, I would not be so arogant as to suggest that some how my opinion means more than someone elses. Having said that you are special and have some information that impells you to tell other people that they are wrong for their beliefs then who am I to say you are wrong for believe that. Your opinion is no more right or wrong than mine. I simply choose to associate with people who think the same way as me. A woman is not wrong if she decide to have an abortion. A person is not wrong because they are gay. They just have a different view than I do and should enjoy the same rights I do.


I am in no way superior to anyone else. I have no special ability to see the truth where others can not. In no way do my spiritual beliefs afford me any special benefit of immortality over anyone elses. I am just a person amoung many other people just like me. All of were born with the same information about our existance or purpose, which is very little, As a matter of fact the only thing any of us truely know, for sure, about our ultimate purpose is the fact that none of us really knows for sure.


So why go through life pretending like you do? It just makes you seem insecure.

Bill Melendez died he was 91.

Bill Melendez, best known for bringing the Peanuts characters to life with such classics as "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," died Tuesday at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica. He was 91.

Melendez, the only animator permitted by Charles M. Schulz to work with the Peanuts characters, earned eight Emmy Awards, 17 Emmy nominations, one Oscar nomination and two Peabody Awards. He began his career at Disney and Warner Bros., working on classic characters at those studios, and spent more than 70 years in the entertainment industry.

In 1948, the Mexican native left Warner Bros. and for more than a decade served as a director and producer on more than 1,000 commercials and films for United Productions of America, Playhouse Pictures and John Sutherland Prods.

It was at UPA that Melendez started doing work for the New York-based J. Walter Thompson ad agency, whose client included Ford. The carmaker expressed interest in using the Peanuts characters to sell its cars on TV, and in 1959 Melendez prepared his animation work and showed it to Peanuts creator Schulz.

Melendez went on to bring Charlie Brown and his pals to the screen in more than 63 half-hour specials, five one-hour specials, four feature films and more than 372 commercials. In addition to perennial favorites "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1965) and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (1966), Melendez produced the Oscar-nominated "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" (1971), "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" (1973), "She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown" (1980) and "You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown" (1975). He also provided the voices for Snoopy and Woodstock through the years.

Melendez also animated TV specials "Garfield on the Town," "Cathy," "Babar Comes to America" and "The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe," among others. He shared an Emmy in 1987 for outstanding animated program with three others for "Cathy."

His last credit was as a producer for 2006 TV special "He's A Bully, Charlie Brown."

Larry Harmon dies at 83

Larry Harmon, who turned the character Bozo the Clown into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He was 83. Best known as the longtime owner of the name and likeness of "Bozo the Clown". Although Harmon credited himself as the character's creator and original portrayer, Capitol Records producer Alan Livingston created Bozo in 1946 for a popular series of children's storytelling record-album and illustrative read-along book sets, the first of their kind; and Pinto Colvig portrayed the character on the recordings, radio and first television series "Bozo's Circus" (1949) on KTTV-Channel 11 (CBS) Los Angeles, California in 1949. Harmon, one of several actors hired by Livingston and Capitol Records to portray Bozo at promotional appearances, formed a business partnership and bought the licensing rights (excluding the record-readers) to the character when Livingston briefly left Capitol in 1956. In 1959, Jayark Films Corporation distributed a series of Harmon-produced limited-animation cartoons (with Harmon as the voice of Bozo) to television stations, along with the rights for each to hire its own live Bozo host. In 1965, Harmon became the sole owner of the licensing rights after buying out his business partners. In 1971, Larry Harmon Pictures Corporation took over Capitol Records' "Bozo the Clown" copyright. In 2001, the last Bozo television series ended a 40-year-run on Superstation WGN-Channel 9 Chicago, Illinois.

He also created an aborted television pilot in the 1950s called "General Universe", in which he was going to use the life size, stationary model of the robot "Gort", from the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). He then went on to create the studio bound, 50s television show called "Commander Comet", which flourished for 2 and a half seasons. He used the "Gort" prop for this show as well. He made some additions to the "Gort" suit & called it "Rotar", who was the ever faithful companion to "Commander Comet".

Children: son, Jeff Harmon, and daughters Lori Harmon, Marci Breth-Carabet and Leslie Breth.

Became interested in theater while studying at the University of Southern California.

Caught up in a minor controversy when the International Clown Hall of Fame took down his 1990 Lifetime of Laughter Achievement Award plaque honoring him as the creator and original Bozo, and formally endorsed Alan Livingston in 1998 as creator and inducted Pinto Colvig in 2004 as the first Bozo. Harmon, who was one of several actors playing Bozo at promotional appearances in the early 1950s and later acquired all rights to the character, denied ever misrepresenting Bozo's history.