Powell fires back in debate over GOP's future

WASHINGTON (AP) — Moderate Republicans to conservative Republicans: Turn down the volume — especially on Rush Limbaugh — and open your minds. The party's future might be at stake.

Such warnings about the GOP's right wing, along with finger wagging about a "shrill" and "judgmental" tone, marked the moderate response in the latest back-and-forth within the Republican Party.

Colin Powell and Tom Ridge argued on television's Sunday talk shows that conservatives are steering the GOP too far to the right and not listening to other views within the party. Newt Gingrich, seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2012, agreed about broadening the base while political guru Karl Rove challenged Powell to lay out his vision and "back it up" by helping elect Republicans.

"I believe we should build on the base because the nation needs two parties, two parties debating each other," said Powell, the nation's top military officer under President George H.W. Bush and secretary of state for President George W. Bush.

"But what we have to do is debate and define who we are and what we are and not just listen to dictates that come down from the right wing of the party," he said.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney and Limbaugh, the king of talk radio, have openly mocked Powell as a Republican in name only, citing his endorsement of Democrat Barack Obama over Republican John McCain in last year's presidential race.

Powell reaffirmed that he is a solid Republican and said the GOP must be more inclusive or risk giving Democrats and independents the chance to scoop up disaffected moderate Republicans. He detailed his presidential voting history — yes to GOP nominees Ronald Reagan through the younger Bush, but yes also to Democrats John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter.

"If we don't reach out more, the party is going to be sitting on a very, very narrow base. You can only do two things with a base. You can sit on it and watch the world go by, or you can build on the base," Powell said.

Fellow GOP moderate Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor and homeland security secretary under George W. Bush, said if the GOP wants "to restore itself, not as a regional party, but as a national party, we have to be far less judgmental about disagreements within the party and far more judgmental about our disagreement with our friends on the other side of the aisle."

Gingrich, the former House speaker, insisted he didn't want to pick a fight with Cheney. But he offered this advice: "I think Republicans are going to be very foolish if they run around deciding they're going to see how much they can purge us down to the smallest possible base."

Cheney, defense secretary when Powell was Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman during the Gulf War in 1991, has made clear that he would rather follow broadcaster Limbaugh than Powell into political battle over the GOP's future. "I didn't know he was still a Republican," Cheney said in a television interview two weeks ago.

Limbaugh has called Powell "just another liberal," said he should become a Democrat and charged that Powell endorsed Obama based on race. Powell and Obama are black.

In remarks to business leaders in Boston this past week, Powell took on such high-profile criticism, saying, "I may be out of their version of the Republican Party, but there's another version of the Republican Party waiting to emerge once again."

Rove, chief political strategist for the younger Bush, took the position that "if you say you're Republican, you're Republican." But he wanted more than words from Powell.

"I don't like this thing where people — and Powell is one them — who said, `Rush Limbaugh, shut up.' We believe, as Republicans in the marketplace of ideas. Let that marketplace decide," Rove said.

"I want Colin Powell to go out there and lay out his vision, and then I want him to back it up by finding people who share it and working like heck to get them — and that's how you win the party."

Like Cheney, Rove said he would pick Limbaugh over Powell, but said it's moot. "Neither one of those are going to be people who are offering themselves for office. ... This is a false debate that Washington loves."

Intraparty squabbles would appear natural given the low standing of the Republican Party and George W. Bush's administration in opinion polls. But Republicans who have suggested that the party moderate its views and even support some of Obama's initiatives have been quickly targeted for criticism.

Ridge, an abortion-rights supporter who was on McCain's short list of vice presidential picks but deemed too moderate by more conservative elements of the GOP, said he thinks "a lot of our commentators are being shrill."

"Rush Limbaugh has an audience of 20 million people. A lot of people listen daily to him and live by every word. But words mean things and how you use words is very important," Ridge said. "It does get the base all fired up and he's got a strong following. But personally, if he would listen to me, and I doubt if he would, the notion is express yourselves but let's respect others' opinions and let's not be divisive."

Powell appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation." Ridge's taped interview aired on CNN's "State of the Union." Gingrich spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press" and Rove on "Fox News Sunday."

This Prom Dress Is Made Of Coke Can Pop Tops

CUMMING, Ga -- When Maranda Smith arrived at her West Forsyth High School Prom, she didn't worry that another student might be wearing the same dress she was wearing. That's because her dress was made of soda can pop tops. That's right. Her dress was made of those tabs on top on soda cans.

Smith discovered the idea about three years when she was surfing several crafting web sites. One of them featured a girl who had made a dress out of the tabs on top of soda cans. It was then Smith decided she would do the same.

SLIDESHOW: See The Pop Top Dress



Her collection started off small. She got her mom to buy more canned drinks and slowly the tops started adding up. But she knew if she wanted to make an entire dress, she had to have some help. She got her friends and even some teachers at West Forsyth High School to contribute.

"All my friends, they are pretty much the ones that gave me the majority of the tabs," Smith told WSBTV.com. "I had friends who would put them in Ziploc bags. I had friends who would mail me those Ziploc bags."

Once she reached about 3,000 tabs, she began constructing the dress. To make it, she took two tabs and put them back to back with the scratchy sides facing each other. Smith weaved them together with plush ribbon to create a row.

U.S. job loss worst since 1974

NEW YORK — Employers slashed another 598,000 jobs off of U.S. payrolls in January, taking the unemployment rate up to 7.6%, according to the latest government reading on the nation’s battered labor market.

The latest job loss is the worst since December 1974, and brings job losses to 1.8 million in just the last three months, or half of the 3.6 million jobs that have been lost since the beginning of 2008.

January’s job loss was also worse than the forecast of a loss of 540,000 jobs from economists surveyed by Briefing.com

The rise in the unemployment rate also was worse than the 7.5% rate economists expected. The unemployment rate is now at its highest level since September, 1992.

As bad as the unemployment rate was, it only tells part of the story for people struggling to find jobs. Friday’s report also showed that 2.6 million people have now been out of work for more than six months, the most long-term unemployed since 1983.

And that number only counts those still looking for work. The so-called underemployment rate, which includes those who have stopped looking for work and people working only part-time that want full-time positions, climbed to 13.9% from 13.5% in December. That is the highest rate for this measure since the Labor Department first started tracking it in 1994.January was a brutal month for layoffs, as major companies ranging from Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), Boeing (BA, Fortune 500) and Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) to Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500) and Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) all announced substantial job cuts.

The job losses in January were widespread, with the manufacturing sector shedding 207,000 jobs, the construction industry cutting 111,000 jobs and business and professional services companies losing 121,000 jobs.

Retailers also cut 45,000 workers, while the leisure and hospitality sector lost 28,000. Among the only sectors posting narrow gains in jobs were education, health services, and the government.

The jobs report comes as the Senate debates the Obama administration's proposal for a nearly $900 billion economic stimulus bill. During a debate late into the night Thursday Republicans and some Democrats questioned the bill's mix of measures and its size. To top of page

US Hi-5 (American kids’ band)

Hi-5 was such a hugely popular show in Australia, an American group was assembled and Hi-5 made its U.S. debut in February 2003 (featuring American performers in the same roles as the original Australian version). The American version is shot in the same studios that the Australian version is shot in Sydney. The American show has episodes airing every weekday on The Learning Channel and Discovery Kids, and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 2005, 2006, and 2007. In addition, the Fall 2004 Parent’s Choice Award was given to their first CD, Jump and Jive with Hi-5.

As the show became increasingly popular, the cast appeared and performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, on CBS’s Early Show, and NBC’s Today Show, among others. During one Today Show appearance, Matt Lauer, the show’s host, compared the group’s popularity to The Beatles.

Hi-5 toured theatres and arenas in the U.S. in 2005, on the “Move Your Body” Tour, playing live to sold-out crowds in Hartford, Boston, Columbus, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Green Bay, Tallahassee, and Raleigh. Beginning August 19, 2006, over two weeks of concerts were held at Vancouver’s PNE, with additional concerts at Sesame Place and at Target book festivals in Minneapolis and New York City. Their second tour, “Hi-5 Live”, was also a sell-out.

The members of Hi-5 visit families and kids alike during their ‘off’ time, helping in relief efforts for victims of both Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Katrina, visiting children at Target House (a facility servicing St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis), and helping with other benefits. Individual members often work with their own project or charity, such as Karla’s work with middle school-aged kids at an after-school program.

Original cast members Curtis, Jenn, Kimee, Karla and Shaun last performed together on September 23, 2007 at the Sesame Place theme park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.[1]

In late 2008, the American Hi-5 was rumoured to be disbanned due to Discovery Kids being reluctant to continue producing new episodes. In response to that, Canadidan media wanted more new episodes. Since Discovery Kids stop producing more episodes, TVOkids and The Learning Channel started airing the original Australian cast in late October 2008.

[edit] Hi-5 characters

[edit] Cast members

* Curtis Cregan, from Okemos, Michigan, starred on Broadway in Rent.

* Jennifer Korbee, a native of Madison, Wisconsin, toured with The American Folklore Theatre for three summers. Her solo album, Give a Girl a Reason, was released June 12, 2007. Her first single is “Good Night Tonight”.

* Kimee Balmilero, a Filipina born and raised in Hawaii, performed in Miss Saigon on tour and made her Broadway debut in Mamma Mia!.

* Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Native American, appeared on All My Children and studied Shakespeare at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. He left the series in the summer of 2006 to perform in the off-Broadway show Altar Boyz.

* Karla Cheatham-Mosley, was raised in Westchester, New York. She left the series in the summer of 2006 to concentrate on working in New York musical theatre.

[edit] Puppets

* Jup-Jup
* Chatterbox

Chatterbox is often referred to as Chats.

[edit] New Hi-5 cast members

In July 2006, Karla Cheatham-Mosley, and Shaun Taylor-Corbett left Hi-5 to pursue other opportunities. The episodes featuring Shaun and Karla are still broadcast on television. Replacing Karla and Shaun are

* Sydney James, an African-American performer who auditioned for American Idol and made it to Hollywood. He played Simba in the Lion King on Broadway.

* Yasmeen Sulieman, an African-American singer born in Oakland, California and raised in Hawaii. She toured with Little Shop of Horrors.

[edit] Segments of the program

* Kimee specializes in “Puzzles and Patterns” to help with math and logical thinking.

* Karla focuses on “Body Move” to emphasize physical activity and coordination.

* Curtis creates “Music” to show melody, rhythm and beat.

* Jennifer works with “Word Play” to expand children’s vocabulary, often using rhyming and song.

* Shaun helps identify “Shapes in Space” - visual and spacial awareness, shapes, colors and sizes.

Venice’s Party Colors

When Napoleon invaded Venice in 1797 he was so shocked at the excesses of the annual Carnival he banned it. No wonder. In the dying days of the Venetian Republic, the festival’s decadence knew few bounds, with masked merrymakers streaming into casinos to gamble, partygoers indulging in illicit liaisons, and crowds calling for blood at bullfights.Today the pre-Lenten event is more family-friendly. But there’s still a touch of hedonism as fancy-dress parties, concerts, fashion parades and firework displays transform the city into a vast alfresco theater.

Grammy Awards

As a concert, the Grammy Awards are often well worth watching. Witness Sly Stone coming out of retirement, or the raucous tribute to the Clash’s Joe Strummer a few years back, or even the hushed opening by a reunited Simon & Garfunkel in 2003.
Coldplay is up for Grammys in the big three categories: album, record and song of the year.

Coldplay is up for Grammys in the big three categories: album, record and song of the year.
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But as an awards show? Not so much.

Each year, the winners of the Grammys’ major categories — record of the year, song of the year and album of the year — often tilt toward safe, veteran acts or newcomers who sound like safe, veteran acts. Occasionally a fresh face breaks through — Amy Winehouse took home record and song of the year last year — but usually the winners are balladeers (Norah Jones), R&B balladeers (Alicia Keys), legendary figures (last year’s album of the year winner, Herbie Hancock) or late legendary figures (Ray Charles, who won album of the year for his posthumous release, “Genius Loves Company”).

“Making fun of the Grammys is … almost too simple,” wrote MTV.com’s James Montgomery. “They’re easy targets: gigantic, slow-to-turn battleships of mass appeal, just floating there, awaiting a well-placed torpedo.”

But, says Blender magazine’s Joe Levy, this year might be different.

“The whole purpose of this year’s Grammys is to be more exciting than last year’s,” he said. “Last year, of course, album of the year went to a Herbie Hancock album — a jazz album of covers of Joni Mitchell songs. I think the Grammys would like to avoid that this year, and they’ve done that by making the nominees hipper than they have been for many years recently.

Indeed, this year’s Grammy performers include Paul McCartney (with the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl backing him on drums), U2, Coldplay, Grammy nominations leader Lil Wayne, Radiohead, Kenny Chesney and Justin Timberlake.

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Among the presenters: Craig Ferguson, Sheryl Crow, Jack Black, Gwyneth Paltrow (the wife of Coldplay singer/pianist Chris Martin) and Al Green.

Rapper Lil Wayne received eight nominations, including album of the year (for his “Tha Carter III”). Coldplay earned seven nods, including album of the year (for “Viva La Vida”) and record of the year (the title track).

Among others with multiple nominations are Ne-Yo, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Alison Krauss, Robert Plant, Radiohead and newcomer Jazmine Sullivan. See some categories way under the radar »

Levy said this year’s album of the year category — which also includes Plant and Krauss (”Raising Sand”), Radiohead (”In Rainbows”) and Ne-Yo (”Year of the Gentleman”) — looks to be competitive. Moreover, even if the award goes to Plant and Krauss’ minimalist, T Bone Burnett-produced album — the “adult” favorite — it’s still OK.

“Raising Sand” is “a classy grown-up record, a subdued sound, and if that wins album of the year, then, you know what? The dude from Led Zeppelin won album of the year,” Levy said. “The people at the Grammys are trying to figure out how to be classy and grown up, but still cool.”

For his part, Ne-Yo was flabbergasted to find himself in such august company.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” he said. “I’m a little dumbfounded right now, but I’m a huge fan of Coldplay, huge fan of Radiohead.”

The big awards feature artists from many genres. Aside from Coldplay, nominees for record of the year are Adele’s “Chasing Pavements,” Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love,” M.I.A’s “Paper Planes” and Plant and Krauss’ “Please Read the Letter.”

The nominees for song of the year, a songwriters’ award, include “American Boy,” popularized by Estelle featuring Kanye West; “Chasing Pavements,” whose hit version was performed by Adele; “I’m Yours,” written and performed by Jason Mraz; “Love Song,” written and performed by Sara Bareilles; and Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida,” written by the band.

Despite all his nominations, Lil Wayne has low expectations of winning.

“Do I think I’m going to win any? No,” he said in a recent video blog, according to the Canadian Press. “Because you know politics. I think they think it’s just enough to nominate me or something.”

Levy, too, is trying to keep his expectations low — though he still hopes for some big moments.
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“If anyone can have an evening packed with musical excitement and dull the excitement … it’s NARAS,” he said, referring to The Recording Academy, the organization that oversees the awards. “[But] they’re trying to make a case this year that something exciting is going on. So they packed it with performers, young and old. Anything that features Miley Cyrus and U2 is definitely casting a wide net, but I think it could be a good one.”

The Grammys are scheduled to air Sunday beginning at 8 p.m. ET. The show will be on CBS.