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.

Larry Haines died at 89

This 1986 file photo, originally supplied by NBC, shows Larry Haines in a posed studio shot promoting his starring role on NBC's "Search for Tomorrow" television soap opera.


Haines died died July 17, 2008 at a Delray Beach, Fla. hospital. He was 89.



Larry Haines, a two-time Daytime Emmy winner for his 35-year role on the soap opera "Search for Tomorrow,".

The actor played Stu Bergman on "Search for Tomorrow" for almost the show's entire run from 1951 to 1986, missing only the first two months.

Stu was the neighbor and best friend of Joanne Gardner Barron, later Joanne Tourneur, the character at the center of most of the show's plot lines over the years. She was played by Mary Stuart for the entire 35 years.

The soap opera, which was first on CBS, later on NBC, was the longest-running daytime drama in television when its last episode aired in December 1986.


Haines credited the longtime appeal of the show to "basically believable characters that people kind of took to."

He won Daytime Emmys for his role in 1976 and 1981 and in 1985 was given an award for his longevity on the series.

He also appeared for shorter periods on "Another World" and "Loving."

He was generally billed as A. Larry Haines in his Broadway appearances. He was twice nominated for Tonys, for "Promises, Promises," the 1968 musical version of the film "The Apartment," and "Generation," a 1965 play starring Henry Fonda.

He also was in the 1962 Broadway comedy "A Thousand Clowns," as the brother of free-spirited Jason Robards; in "Twigs," a 1971 program of four one-act plays starring Sada Thompson; and in the 1978 "Tribute," which starred Jack Lemmon.

He appeared as a card player in the 1968 film version of "The Odd Couple," and made guest appearances on the TV series "Maude" and "Kojak," among others.

He was born in Mount Vernon, N.Y., on Aug. 3, 1918. Early in his career, he was an actor on radio series, including the popular horror series "Inner Sanctum," which opened with the sound of a creaking door.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Gertrude Haines; his second wife, Jean Pearlman Haines; and his daughter, Debora.

Kwame Kilpatricick resigned as mayor

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has resigned from office as Detroit's Mayor.Part of his plea deal requires that he spend 120 days in jail and he surrenders his law license and he can not run for office for the 5 years that he will be on probation. He has to pay 1 million dollars in restitution and he will loose his state pension has restitution to the city
One of the most disappointing things that the City of Detroit has to face is that he was a good mayor with a few hang ups. Hopefully he will learn from his past mistakes.

McCain Camp Battles National Enquirer Over Alleged Palin Affair

John McCain's presidential campaign is threatening a lawsuit against the National Enquirer over a print edition story the tabloid ran today alleging that Gov. Sarah Palin has had an extramarital affair with her husband's business partner.
The allegation would normally be dismissed by political observers as the random musings of a supermarket tabloid -- indeed, the McCain campaign said as much in its statements on Wednesday -- except that the paper has built up a reservoir of legitimacy following its earlier reporting on the John Edwards affair.
In a statement to the Huffington Post, a spokesman for the paper, who promised a larger report next week, tapped into that pool of quasi-respect.
"The National Enquirer's coverage of a vicious war within Sarah Palin's extended family includes several newsworthy revelations, including the resulting incredible charge of an affair plus details of family strife when the Governor's daughter revealed her pregnancy. Following our John Edwards' exclusives, our political reporting has obviously proven to be more detail-oriented than the McCain campaign's vetting process. Despite the McCain camp's attempts to control press coverage they find unfavorable, The Enquirer will continue to pursue news on both sides of the political spectrum."

Clearly, this is a touchy matter. Already, rumors that Palin's youngest son was actually the son of her daughter were batted down. And the McCain campaign has strenuously insisted that the current crop of insinuations is not only false but also potentially libelous.
"The smearing of the Palin family must end. The allegations contained on the cover of the National Enquirer insinuating that Gov. Palin had an extramarital affair are categorically false. It is a vicious lie," said McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt. "The efforts of the media and tabloids to destroy this fine and accomplished public servant are a disgrace. The American people will reject it."
But the Edwards reporting complicates matters. Just one month ago, conservatives were bemoaning the fact that no major media outlets had the temerity to follow the politically and personally sensitive rumors about the former North Carolina senator's infidelities. Jonah Goldberg, for example, wrote on the National Review's the Corner in later July that:
"Whatever the merits of the whole Edwards love child story, are we really supposed to believe that one of America's most famous trial lawyers wouldn't sue a publication that printed defamatory and slanderous lies about him? Also, it's worth pointing out that while the Enquirer may or may not be scrupulous in its choice of stories -- that's in the eye of the beholder -- it is pretty scrupulous about its facts. They win lawsuits. They've broken a host of stories the MSM guys couldn't."
Does the MSM now have an obligation to pursue this rumor, however touchy, or at least ask questions?
"The "success" with Edwards no doubt will give them some more credibility, although we should remember that some of the allegations in their "lovechild" stories have been far from proven (although also far from disproven)," wrote Greg Mitchell, editor of Editor and Publisher Magazine. "Some of their Palin revelations may be quickly firmed up, prove bogus or more likely rest somewhere in-between for awhile. But what will be interesting is whether the Republicans and conservatives and MSM critics who jumped on the MSM and liberals for not quickly embracing the Enquirer's Edwards work will now pooh-pooh the Enquirer when it comes to THIS candidate....:"
And yet, at the same time, the Enquirer's story may be something of a break for the McCain campaign, which has come under siege for the Palin pick. If the Arizona Senator and his aides are able to effectively portray attacks on the Palin as the product of smear, sleaze and innuendo, it clouds those that are more legitimate. And with new attack lines opening up against Palin seemingly every hour, Democrats may be even more hesitant about straying into the tawdry.