| Tian Liang pays for cashing in on fame
Tian Liang knows what it is like to be at the heart of China's secretive state-run sports sector. Plucked from the long-jump pit on the school playing fields of Chongqing at the age of 7 and sent to the swimming pool, he was carefully nurtured to become one of the country's most successful divers. During a 20-year career he won three world titles, 15 World Cups, two Olympic gold medals and a bronze. The 28-year-old also knows what it is like to be cast out of the system. Despite his two-medal haul in Athens in 2004, he was kicked off the national team in 2005 for endorsing everything from electric bicycles to seafood snacks. His coaches, who demoted him to a provincial team despite his continued superiority, said that he had been "violating team regulations concerning commercial activities ...
Ulanoff: Facebook's Death Spiral Has Begun
In other instances, Facebook will create an infinite loop of friendliness where there really isn't any. I've had a couple of "pokes" on my page for ages. Someone poked me, I poked them back, and that should be the end of it. But the initial poke remains on my page, so I'm never sure if this is a new poke or a remnant. It's also hard to delete things like mail, so old messages stick around as if they're fresh. Everything seems more active than it really is. If all of this doesn't concern Facebook fans, it should. Any site that needs to resort to creating the illusion of life is clearly heading to a place where this is none. Copyright © 2008 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Media Inc.
Allen Johnson, Lolo Jones at different ends of hurdling careers
Twenty-five-year-old Lolo Jones is aiming for Beijing after rebounding from a disappointing 2004 Olympic trials. Both will run the 60-meter hurdles over the weekend, races expected to be among the most hotly contested events in this weekend's U.S. Indoor Track and Field Championships. It's the final stop in the 2008 Indoor Visa Championship Series, with national indoor titles and roster spots for the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Track and Field Championships at stake. Many of the U.S. elite track and field athletes have chosen to forego the indoor championships in this Olympic year. But some hope to use the indoor championships as a springboard for the outdoor season and the Olympic trials this summer. Johnson, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist at 110 meters, is trying to rebound after injury-plagued seasons in 2006 and '07.
Replica guns seized from collector
Those radical Muslims won't need to fire a shot from their weapons when they can simply say "Boo!" and you'll run away from them and hide underneath your beds. You people today make the French look very brave. First of all, you Brits need to get some common sense by getting rid of these stupid laws. Criminals don't obey laws in the first place. After that, you had better be brave, just like your proud ancestors, and take back your country if you still want it to be known as England and not Anglistan. .
Harrington: Alcoa pair to peddle 'high-tech' bicycles
Over the last couple of years, Douglas Benton made a point to carry a rubber glove in a pouch on his Trek bicycle because the chain often would come off. Those days are over for the Alcoa resident, who recently bought a chainless bicycle that sells for about $500. Calling the bike "amazing" and hoping to get people "moving," Benton plans to begin selling it and other "high-tech" bikes when he and his wife, Trysh, open in a few weeks Wheels 4 Tomorrow at 215 Aluminum Ave., along a stretch of greenway that runs 11 miles in Blount County. "We've got some of the best food in the world in the South, but we also have a lot of overweight people. We just kind of decided that more people needed some exercise. What we will offer is an opportunity to get outside with these cool bikes on an underutilized greenway," said Benton, a 1980 University of Tennessee graduate who grew up in Northeast Knoxville.
Valley's top 25 workplaces for women
An Employee Assistance Program provides free counseling services and education about how to handle stress and life events. On the professional-development side, the hospital offers educational assistance, tuition reimbursement and scholarships. It also partners with universities to offer cohort programs, many of which allow employees to earn degrees while taking classes at the hospital's on-campus Center for Education and Development. To stay in touch with employees, Hunt hosts open employee forums monthly, managers conduct monthly coffee-cart rounds and the hospital conducts an annual survey. The hospital's leadership extends outside of its walls. St. Joseph's is involved in more than 80 community partnerships, including Fresh Start Women's Foundation, Girl Scouts, Maggie's Place, Sojourner Center, the Susan G.
DVD reviews
The second collection of Joan Crawford films is even better than the first, covering a wider range of her career and unearthing more than the usual suspects. The earliest of the films is the pre-Code "Sadie McKee" (1934), with Crawford climbing up the social ranks and having romances along the way. The latest film in the five-disc collection is "Torch Song" (1953), with Crawford as a bitter Broadway star who comes under the spell of a blind piano player. It's total, crazy camp and irresistible. In between, there are good entries that cover Crawford's prime, such as "A Woman's Face" (1941), about a scarred woman whose life is transformed by plastic surgery, and "Strange Cargo" (1940), a religious allegory co-starring Clark Gable. Finally, there's "Flamingo Road" (1949), with Crawford as a city woman who finds herself stuck in a small Southern town.
Rural Pen: MRIs Show Scientists The Ways Of Love
Yes. "The more scientists look, the more they're able to tease romance apart into its individual strands - the visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, neurochemical processes that make it possible," writes Jeffrey Kluger in the Jan. 28 issue of Time. Science, which tries to explain everything from Earth's creation to its extinction, has now tackled love. Much as I hate to admit it, they've pretty much described my courtship and marriage. Except for one thing. One of the more interesting facts they've discovered is what attracts men to women and vice versa. Several studies have shown that men prefer women with large breasts and a high hip-to-waist ratio - the 1950s ideal of 36-26-36 - which are seen as signs of fertility. Women like men with a broad chest, muscular shoulders and a full beard, all signs of strength and virility.
Reinaldo helps Roar demolish Phoenix
A Brazilian triple-treat from Reinaldo and Marcinho gave the Queensland Roar a commanding 3-0 win over a 10-man Wellington Phoenix and outright second spot on the A-League ladder. A dominant performance from striker Reinaldo was capped off with two goals, including a classy backheel effort, while Marcinho came off the bench to chime in with a third late in the match. The three second-half goals came despite a spirited effort from the Phoenix, who lost Socceroo midfielder Ahmad Elrich when he was red-carded for what appeared to be an elbow to the face of the Roar's Hyuk-Su Seo in a 34th minute off-the-ball incident. The visitors remained staunch in defence for the next half hour of match time, with the scores locked at 0-0 up until the 67th minute. Roar coach Frank Farina though was happy with the way his charges persisted with their game plan.
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