Fobim

Advertisements

Patrick Joseph “Pat” Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior advisor to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN’s Crossfire. He sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1992 and 1996. He ran on the Reform Party ticket in the 2000 presidential election.

He co-founded The American Conservative magazine and launched a foundation named The American Cause. He has been published in Human Events, National Review, The Nation and Rolling Stone. He was a political commentator on the MSNBC cable network, including the show Morning Joe as he got indefinitely suspended from the channel during early January 2012, and a regular on The McLaughlin Group.

Buchanan was born in Washington, D.C., a son of William Baldwin Buchanan (Virginia, August 13, 1905 ? Washington, D.C., January 1988), a partner in an accounting firm, and his wife Catherine Elizabeth (Crum) Buchanan (Charleroi, Washington County, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1911 ? Oakton, Fairfax County, Virginia, September 18, 1995), a nurse and a homemaker. Buchanan had six brothers (Brian, Henry, James, John, Thomas, and William Jr.) and two sisters (Kathleen Theresa and Angela Marie, nicknamed Bay). Bay served as U.S. Treasurer under Ronald Reagan. His father was of Scottish, English, and Irish descent and his mother was of German ancestry. He had a great-grandfather who fought in the American Civil War in the Confederate Army. He is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and admires Robert E. Lee. Of his southern roots, Buchanan has written:

I have family roots in the South, in Mississippi. When the Civil War came, Cyrus Baldwin enlisted and did not survive Vicksburg. William Buchanan of Okolona, who would marry Baldwin?s daughter, fought at Atlanta and was captured by General Sherman. William Baldwin Buchanan was the name given to my father and by him to my late brother. As a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, I have been to their gatherings. I spoke at the 2001 SCV convention in Lafayette, LA. The Military Order of the Stars and Bars presented me with a battle flag and a wooden canteen like the ones my ancestors carried.

Buchanan was born into a Catholic family and attended Catholic schools, including the Jesuit-run Gonzaga College High School. As a student at Georgetown University, he was in ROTC but did not complete the program. He received his draft notice after he graduated in 1960. However, the District of Columbia draft board exempted Buchanan from military service because of reactive arthritis, classifying him as 4-F. He received a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia in 1962, writing his thesis on the expanding trade between Canada and Cuba.

Buchanan married White House staffer Shelley Ann Scarney in 1971. Their longtime tabby cat, Gipper, was named for U.S. President Ronald Reagan and reportedly sat on Pat’s lap during staff meetings.

Source: Wikipedia

Two loud booms jolted awake the music industry executive in her fifth-floor room of the Beverly Hilton hotel.
The time was 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The thuds seemed to be coming from the room below. The voice of a man, loud and urgent, followed.
It was only later that she learned the news: Whitney Houston, a guest in the room below hers, had died.
Cause of death: Unclear.
Time pronounced: 3:55 p.m., February 11, 2012.
Age: A mere 48.
The shock and grief from fans worldwide was immediate: Houston’s pipes and presence, her grit and glamour had made her an icon.
For a decade and a half, she ruled the charts: 170 million albums sold, including seven back-to-back multi-platinum ones.
Numerous No. 1 hits, including the biggest-selling U.S. single of all time, “I Will Always Love You.”
Emmys, Grammys, Billboard Music awards. Dozens of them.
And while her luster had dimmed in recent years, as she battled drug addiction, Houston was in the midst of a comeback. A few shows here and there, mostly abroad, and a movie in the works.
She had appeared healthy and beautiful in recent days, said the music executive — who did not want to be identified because she didn’t want reporters hounding her.
Just days before, the exec had seen Houston swimming in the hotel pool with daughter Bobbi Kristina. They looked happy, she said.
What exactly happened Saturday afternoon now awaits a coroner’s examination.
Police and fire officials were called to Houston’s room at 3:43 p.m., after Houston’s bodyguard found her unconscious body.
Medics tried reviving her, but failed.
There were “no obvious signs of criminal intent,” said Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mark Rosen.
Medics removed her body from the hotel room early Sunday morning and an autopsy has been scheduled.
But the county coroner’s office could not say when.
“I just can’t talk about it now. It’s so stunning and unbelievable,” said singer Aretha Franklin on hearing the news. “I couldn’t believe what I was reading coming across the TV screen.”
Saturday night, fans mourned Houston’s death in different ways inside and outside the Beverly Hilton.
Outside, grieving fans laid roses and flickering candles on the front and back entrances of the sprawling complex.
Some sang songs. Others played her music videos on their smartphone.
“Everyone has their own demons, and some overcome them and some never do,” said Tya Conerly, referring to Houston’s history of drug abuse. “Sometimes life gets the best of us.”
Inside the hotel, music industry’s biggest names gathered in elegant attire for an annual pre-Grammy party that had been long planned by Houston’s mentor, Clive Davis.
“I do have a heavy heart, and I am personally devastated by someone so close to me for so many years,” Davis told the gathering of artists and entertainers, that included Tony Bennett, Gladys Knight and Britney Spears.
“My heart goes out to her daughter Bobbi Kristina and her mother, Cissy.”
He then asked for a moment of silence.
“We dedicate this evening to her,” he said.
Houston had been scheduled to attend the festivities. She had performed as late as Thursday night at a pre-Grammy event in the area, a raspy rendition “Jesus Loves Me” with singer Kelly Price.
The organizers of Sunday’s Grammy Awards said they have retooled the show to pay respect to Houston, with the help of singer Jennifer Hudson.
“It’s going to be something respectful,” said Ken Ehrlich, executive producer of the show. “It’s not going to be a full-blown tribute. That’s too early and it’s too fresh at this moment. It’s going to be something respectful to Whitney’s memory.”
Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey, on August 9, 1963, the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston.
Her cousin was Dionne Warwick; her godmother Aretha Franklin.
“You couldn’t find a more auspicious template for great expectations,” said music critic Gene Seymour.
In the mid-1980s, Davis spotted Houston in a New York nightclub and signed her on the spot.
For the next quarter century, he steered her career and served as her mentor.
“I saw a depth and a range and soul … that rarely ranks at the top level,” he said Thursday. “And that’s why we’ve been working together ever since.”
Her string of Billboard No. 1 hits included “Saving All My Love for You,” “How Will I Know,” “The Greatest Love of All,” “Where Do Broken Hearts Go,” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).”
In 1991, Houston’s commanding performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl, just days into the first Persian Gulf War, electrified audiences and became the gold standard for performing the national anthem, according to many music critics.
The next year, she released the soundtrack to her movie “The Bodyguard,” one of the top 10 biggest-selling albums of all time.
Her cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” for the soundtrack has been interpreted by many but rarely duplicated.
She appeared in several more films in the 1990s, including “Waiting to Exhale.”
In 2000, Houston earned her sixth Grammy for best female R&B performance and, a month later, she was named female artist of the decade at the “Soul Train” Music Awards.
But by then, her battle with drugs — cocaine and marijuana — and her tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown were taking their toll.
The couple appeared together in the mid-2000s on the reality show “Being Bobby Brown,” and had one child together, Bobbi Kristina.
In a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Houston recalled how her mother arrived one day at her doorstep with sheriff’s officers and a court order in a drug intervention.
“(My mother) says, ‘I have a court (injunction) here,’” Houston said. “Either you do it my way, or we’re just not going to do this at all. We are both going to go on TV, and you’re going to retire.’”
She entered rehab and took a long hiatus. Her 2009 release, “I Look To You,” was her first in seven years.
“I just took a break, which sometimes you have to,” Houston said. “You have to know when to slow that train down and kind of just sit back and relax for a minute.”
She recently returned to a movie set for “Sparkle,” a remake of the 1976 hit that was loosely based on the story of The Supremes.
It is scheduled to be released nationwide in August, her first movie role since 1996′s “The Preacher’s Wife.”
Music mogul Simon Cowell said Houston’s death is one of those events where you remember what you were doing when you heard the news.
“It’s that significant,” he said. “I’m so sad for her. She was undoubtedly one of the greatest superstars of all time, one of the greatest voices in our lifetime we’re likely ever to hear.”

Source: CNN

Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981, in Raleigh, North Carolina) is a Major League Baseball All Star outfielder for the Texas Rangers.

He was the first overall pick in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He was considered a blue chip prospect until injuries and a drug addiction derailed his career in 2001. Prior to the 2007 season, Hamilton was selected by the Chicago Cubs (picking for the Cincinnati Reds) in the Rule 5 Draft. He made his MLB debut in 2007 with the Reds and had a successful rookie season. During the off-season he was traded to the Texas Rangers for Edinson Volquez and Daniel Ray Herrera.

After his torrid start to the 2008 season, Hamilton was named to the American League All Star team, and made the All-Star team the next two seasons as well. He also participated in the Home Run Derby, where he hit a record 28 home runs in the opening round and finished with 35 home runs, which was second-most all-time in derby history. Hamilton won the AL batting title in 2010. On October 22, 2010, Hamilton was selected as MVP of the 2010 ALCS. On November 23, 2010, Hamilton was named the 2010 AL MVP, earning 22 of 28 first-place votes.

Timothy James Thomas, Jr. (born April 15, 1974) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender with the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Raised in Davison, MI, Thomas played college hockey for the University of Vermont for four years, from 1993?1997, during which he was drafted 217th overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. He played for several years in the minor leagues and Europe, before making it to the NHL at age 28, with the Boston Bruins. He finally emerged as the Bruins’ starting goaltender at age 32. Thomas is a two-time winner of the Vezina Trophy (2009 and 2011) as the league’s best goaltender, and was a member of Team USA in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Thomas won the Conn Smythe Trophy for Most Valuable Player in the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. Winning it, along with the Stanley Cup, at age 37, he became the oldest player and second American-born player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy in NHL history, after Brian Leetch.