
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
American Celebrity Danica Sue Patrick
2005 Indianapolis 500 and
the 2005 IndyCar Series season. In May 2006, she published her autobiography, Danica
Crossing the Line. With her win in the 2008 Indy Japan 300
Patrick became the first woman to win an Indy car race. She also has an equity stake in her 7 team.She placed 3rd in the 2009 Indianapolis 500, which was both a personal high for her at the track and the highest finish by a woman in the event's history.
Friday, May 22, 2009
The Bible bill in America?




Broun’s simple congressional resolution aimed at honoring the Good Book has produced a push-back of biblical proportion in the blogosphere, with critics dismissing it as either unconstitutional or a waste of time. Jews in Congress and atheist activists are dismissing the resolution, while none of the many Democrats in Congress who are Christian have bothered to sign on as co-sponsors.
According to GovTrak.us, the resolution is among the most-blogged-about pieces of legislation, with most posts less than complimentary in nature.
Does that mean 2009 is not the year of the Bible? mocked Rep. Barney Frank who is Jewish. What is 2012 the year of? The Quran?
That’s an endorsement of religion by the federal government, and we shouldn’t be doing that,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), even though he has introduced his own legislation dealing with religion.
Republican lawmakers with apparently too much time on their hands and no solutions to offer the country are pushing a resolution that will not address the nation’s problems or advance prosperity or even untangle their previous governing mistakes,” blogged the Progressive Puppy.
Broun rejects the critiques leveled at this effort.
This doesn’t have anything to do with Christianity, he said in an interview with POLITICO. Rather, he says, it seeks to recognize that the Bible played an integral role in the building of the United States, including providing the basis for our freedom of religion that allows Muslims, Hindus and even atheists to vocalize their own beliefs.
And even as Nadler criticized Broun, he has done his own share of mixing religion and legislation.
Last year, he introduced a bill that would overturn a federal appeals court ruling an idiot decision, he says that a condominium board in Chicago had the right to ban Jews from installing mezuzahs, which consist of a piece of parchment inscribed with a specific religious text put inside a case and hung on a door frame.
Condo boards shouldn’t be able to interfere in an individual’s right to practice his or her religion, Nadler said.
But he himself declined to install a mezuzah on his congressional office door when asked by a rabbi, even though he does so at home.
That’s my religious symbol, and the office does not belong to me; it belongs to the people of the congressional district, and no one should feel uncomfortable walking into the office if it’s not their religion,” Nadler said, describing his feelings on religion and Congress.
Same thing with the Bible.It’s not everybody’s religion. And the federal government should not be imposing religious viewpoints.
Atheists, who might feel themselves a particular target with the declaration of a biblical year, aren’t even worried about Broun’s effort.
Right now, we’re seeing atheism on such a rise,said David Silverman, vice president and national spokesman of American Atheists, a group dedicated to fighting for the civil rights of atheists.
We are seeing Christianity on such a dramatic decline that we’re not particularly worried about it. We’re thinking that this kind of old-style George W. Bush Republicanism is about to go away,” Silverman said, referring to the latest Pew Forum survey of American religious life, which showed nonreligious Americans as the fastest-growing group.
And it may be the best-selling book of all time, as Broun’s resolution points out, but the Bible isn’t such a popular legislative topic.
A search of Thomas, the online congressional database, for “Bible” yields just one other bill: a resolution to have the Lincoln-Obama Bible” on permanent display in the Capitol Visitor Center.
The resolution specifically asks the president to issue a proclamation calling upon citizens of all faiths to rediscover and apply the priceless, timeless message of the Holy Scripture which has profoundly influenced and shaped the United States and its great democratic form of government.”
As for the economy, health care, global warming and all the other issues on Congress’ plate?
While we must focus on fiscal policies that provide relief to families during these tough economic times, an endeavor I have been working tirelessly towards in this Congress, we must also not forget to protect and celebrate our fundamental freedoms that the Bible has influenced,” Broun said.
Broun has gathered 15 co-sponsors, all Republicans, but says he’s looking for more and hopes Democrats will sign on, as well.
This is not a partisan issue,he said. I want it to be bipartisan.
Whether he’s successful or not — the same measure didn’t go anywhere last year — at least Broun and his fellow supporters can take heart in one fact: They already had a “year of the Bible.”
Bryce Dallas Howard





Bryce Dallas Howard (born March 2, 1981) is an American actress, perhaps best known for her film roles in the M. Night Shyamalan-directed The Village and Lady in the Water, and as Gwen Stacy in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3. She most recently starred as Katherine Connor – second-in-command of the human resistance and wife to John Connor – in the 2009 movie Terminator Salvation.
Conceived in Dallas, Texas the source of her middle name Howard was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Cheryl (née Alley), a writer, and Hollywood actor-director Ron Howard. Her paternal grandparents were actors Jean Speegle Howard and Rance Howard and her uncle is actor Clint Howard; her godfather is actor Henry Winkler, who co-starred on Happy Days (1974) with her father.
Howard and her younger sisters, twins Jocelyn and Paige, and their younger brother, Reed, were raised away from the world of showbusiness. Their parents didn't allow them access to television and instead encouraged reading, outside play, and hobbies. Nevertheless, all four Howard children can be seen as extras in some of their father's films, such as in 1999's EDtv.
She was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, where she graduated from Greenwich Country Day School in 1996. When she was in ninth grade at Greenwich Country Day School, she performed as Miss Adelaide in the musical Guys and Dolls, and in a variety show with her own unique version of Leiber and Stoller's "I Am A Woman." She later attended Byram Hills High School in Armonk, New York, where she performed in a number of shows on their stage, and graduated in 1999. Howard also attended Stagedoor Manor, a performing arts camp in upstate New York, with one of her good friends: actress Natalie Portman. After graduating from high school, Howard studied at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for three years, during which time she also attended the Stella Adler Conservatory, The Experimental Wing, and International Theatre Wing in Amsterdam. During her schooling, Bryce took part in the concept recording of the Broadway-bound musical A Tale of Two Cities. She graduated with her BFA in Drama in 2003. Howard is also an alumna of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company's prestigious School at Steppenwolf in Chicago, and of The Actors Center in New York City.
She appeared in several of her father's (Ron Howard) films as an extra before her feature film début came in director Alan Brown's 2004 drama, Book of Love. She also appeared in numerous productions on the New York stage, but her breakthrough role came in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, which she was cast in without having to audition after Shyamalan saw her in a Broadway show. Following that, Howard was cast by Lars Von Trier to replace Nicole Kidman as Grace in Manderlay (2005). She collaborated again with Shyamalan in the 2006 release Lady in the Water, in which she plays Story, a type of water nymph called a "narf".
Howard at the Spider-Man 3, 2007 premiereIn 2006, she starred as Rosalind in Kenneth Branagh's film version of Shakespeare's As You Like It, opposite David Oyelowo as Orlando. The film played theatres in Europe, but went directly to cable in the United States. Ms. Howard was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance.
In May 2007, she appeared as Peter Parker's new love interest Gwen Stacy in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. She dyed her naturally red hair blonde for the role (ironically the naturally blonde lead female,Dunst's hair was dyed red for the role of Mary Jane Watson). Howard beat out Elisha Cuthbert and Sienna Miller for the part.
She will play the lead role in her upcoming film, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, co-starring Chris Evans, Ellen Burstyn and David Strathairn. She landed the role after Lindsay Lohan dropped out.
She also plays the role of Kate Connor in the 2009 movie Terminator Salvation.
She wrote and directed a short film, Orchids, starring Alfred Molina, as part of Glamour magazine's "Reel Moments" series funded by Cartier and FilmAid International.
Personal lifeOn June 17, 2006, Howard married Seth Gabel. They met at New York University and dated for five years. They currently live in Hollywood, California. Howard and Gabel welcomed their first child, a son named Theodore Norman Howard Gabel, nicknamed Theo, on February 16, 2007.
Until recently, she had been a devoted vegan since Joaquin Phoenix, her The Village co-star, showed her a documentary on animal cruelty called Earthlings, for which he had provided the narration at the request of Nation Earth. However, in August 2006, Howard announced that she had switched her diet from vegan to vegetarian in order to help her boost her amino acid levels in preparation for pregnancy.
She is close friends with Kirsten Dunst (her co-star in Spider-Man 3), Natalie Portman, and Jake Gyllenhaal.











