Costs of big wildfire season hurting some states

A DC-10 drops fire retardant on the Ponderosa Fire Monday Aug. 20, 2012, near Paynes Creek, Calif. Nearly 1,900 firefighters were battling the Ponderosa Fire in rugged, densely forested terrain as it threatened 3,500 homes in the towns of Manton, Shingletown and Viola, about 170 miles north of Sacramento. (AP Photo/The Record Searchlight, Andreas Fuhrmann)

A DC-10 drops fire retardant on the Ponderosa Fire Monday Aug. 20, 2012, near Paynes Creek, Calif. Nearly 1,900 firefighters were battling the Ponderosa Fire in rugged, densely forested terrain as it threatened 3,500 homes in the towns of Manton, Shingletown and Viola, about 170 miles north of Sacramento. (AP Photo/The Record Searchlight, Andreas Fuhrmann)

Flames and smoke from the Ponderosa Fire are seen, Monday Aug. 20, 2012, near Paynes Creek, Calif. Nearly 1,900 firefighters were battling the Ponderosa Fire in rugged, densely forested terrain as it threatened 3,500 homes in the towns of Manton, Shingletown and Viola, about 170 miles north of Sacramento. (AP Photo/The Record Searchlight, Andrea Fuhrmann)

Brad McDonald, left, of Red Bluff, Calif., watches his parents, Brook McDonald and Linda McDonald pack belongings Monday Augh. 20, 2012, at their home in Paynes Creek, Calif., as the Ponderosa Fire burns in the canyon behind their home. "We're just getting pictures and stuff," Brook McDonald said. "We're just trying to get what we can't replace. If it goes, it goes." (AP Photo/The Record Searchlight, Andreas Fuhrmann)

The burned remains of a home destroyed by a Ponderosa fire are seen near Manton, Calif., Monday, Aug. 20, 2012. More than 1,400 fire fighters are battling the fire that has destroyed seven homes, burned 23 square miles. The fire that started Saturday is just 5 percent contained. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Dale Kempf relaxes with a book at a Red Cross evacuation center in Redding, Calif., Monday, Aug. 20, 2012. Kemp was forced to flee his home in Manton, Saturday due to the Ponderosa Fire. Residents of the small towns, of Manton, Viola and Shingletown were forced to evacuate as flames from the fire neared. The fire, that started Saturday, has destroyed seven homes, burned 23 square miles and is only 5 percent contained. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

MANTON, Calif. (AP) ? A huge wildfire in California is just the latest destructive blaze to stretch resources across the West during a fire season that has been one of the worst in years.

The fires have left some states with thin budgets to scramble to get people, planes, bulldozers and other tools on fire lines to beat back the flames.

And that's with about a third of the annual wildfire season remaining.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, the nation as of Wednesday had seen 42,927 wildfires this year, which burned just over 7 million acres.

While the number of fires is down from the 10-year average of 54,209 as of Aug. 22, the acreage was well above the average of 5.4 million acres, said Don Smurthwaite, a NIFC spokesman.

"The fires are bigger," Smurthwaite said.

In Colorado Springs, Colo., this summer, about 350 homes were burned in the most destructive wildfire in state history. Another fire in northern Colorado just before it scorched 257 homes.

The costs have mounted, not just in the damage to houses and other buildings.

In Utah, for example, officials have spent $50 million as of mid-August to fight more than 1,000 wildfires, far surpassing the $3 million a year the Legislature budgeted for fighting wildfires.

The state's share is estimated at $16 million, said Roger Lewis of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. He said lawmakers will need to figure out how to come up with $13 million.

That's the largest-ever supplemental appropriation request needed for firefighting in the state, agency spokesman Jason Curry said. He said, "It's obviously been a big year."

Washington state fire officials project that they will spend about $19.8 million on emergency fire suppression activities in the current fiscal year that ends next June.

That is expected to far surpass the $11.2 million the agency was allotted for such work, meaning the Department of Natural Resources will have to ask the Legislature for supplemental funds.

Not all Western states are seeing their budgets busted because of fires.

In Oregon, the state estimated it had spent $3.4 million through last Saturday to fight wildfires, with more than two months of the season left. Last year, it spent $6.6 million.

In Montana, forest managers told Gov. Brian Schweitzer that long-term forecasts call for fire conditions through the end of September, which is longer than normal.

The Northern Rockies Coordination Center put the total cost of fighting large wildfires in Montana, including costs to federal and state agencies, at $64 million so far this season. The state's share is about $25 million to fight fires that have burned about 1,100 square miles.

Schweitzer said the state has already burned through cash reserves set aside for such natural disasters, but that plenty of money is available from surplus general funds.

While parts of the Southwest, particularly Southern California, still have three months of fire season left, Smurthwaite said, shorter days, declining temperatures and higher humidity will help curtail fires.

"That's almost like putting a little wet blanket over a fire," he said.

In California, state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said Wednesday that while crews were getting a handle on many of the fires in the northern part of the state, more lightning strikes in Southern California could trigger a new round of blazes.

"There's no reprieve just yet," Berlant said.

Firefighters in northern California on Wednesday made progress in containing a huge wildfire that has burned dozens of homes and scorched about 38 square miles. It was 50 percent contained Wednesday morning.

The threat to homes dropped from 3,500 earlier this week to roughly 200 residences, officials said.

Fire crews assessing the rural area determined Tuesday that 50 buildings had been destroyed since it was sparked by lightning Saturday. It was unclear when the structures burned and how many were homes.

More than 2,100 firefighters were battling the fire near several remote towns about 170 miles north of Sacramento.

Angie Nelson, 38, of Shingletown and her family were swimming at Whiskeytown Lake on Saturday when they got a phone call saying the fire was advancing on their house.

They drove home and her husband and teenage son climbed on the roof and cleaned the gutters of pine needles and leaves, watered the yard and started putting clothes, family pictures and other mementoes together.

Since then, the couple and their four children have been sleeping on the floor of Nelson's mother's house.

"It's stressful. I can't wait to go home. It's awkward staying at somebody's house, even if it is your mother," she said. "They're really going to appreciate sleeping in their own beds."

Nelson said she still had family pictures loaded in special evacuation buckets from the last time they had to leave their house four years ago. She said her 10-year-old son took a teddy bear, her daughter chose a clothes hanger full of belts. Her teenage son took his collection of super balls.

"I looked back in the car and saw that and said 'What are you doing?' and he said 'Mom, I've been collecting these for months.'"

Elsewhere in California, a large wildfire in Plumas National Forest continued to expand, helped by gusty winds.

The blaze, about 120 miles north of Sacramento, has consumed nearly 98 square miles since it started at the end of July and threatens about 900 homes. It was 37 percent contained Wednesday.

In Washington state, fire crews still hoped to fully contain a week-old wildfire that has destroyed 51 homes and 26 outbuildings and damaged at least six other homes, authorities said.

The fire, about 75 miles east of Seattle, has caused an estimated $8.3 million in property damage.

In south-central Idaho, authorities have spent more than $23 million fighting a fire near the towns of Pine and Featherville and another in a forest near the resort town of Stanley.

Those wildfires have each consumed about 150 square miles, and will not be extinguished for some time, Smurthwaite said.

"We expect to be managing them for weeks to come," he said.

___

Geranios reported from Spokane, Wash. Associated Press writers Haven Daley in Manton Calif., Jonathan Cooper in Salem, Ore., Brian Skoloff in Salt Lake City, Terry Collins, John S. Marshall and Terence Chea in San Francisco, Shannon Dininny in Yakima, Wash., Mike Baker in Olympia, Wash., and Jessie Bonner in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-08-22-Western%20Wildfires/id-aee94d9b008e4c7299261492f58f47f6

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Yankees win terror protection, but do you lose?

Ray Stubblebine / Reuters file

New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter, left, watches as the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds fly in formation over Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

Yankee fans root for a first-place team and usually watch their heroes win when they visit the new Yankee Stadium in New York. But fans of the Bronx Bombers have recently lost something too, something many sports fans around the country will probably lose soon: the right?to sue the team for damages if there's a terrorist attack.?Meanwhile,?another team?can claim victory every time the Yankees take the field -- tort reform advocates.

In July, Yankee Stadium became the first sports facility to earn the coveted federal "Safety Act" designation. That means the facility has passed a battery of tests and won approval from the Department of Homeland Security, so the Yankees have been granted a wide-ranging immunity from future lawsuits that might stem from terrorist attacks.

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Dozens of defense companies have been named to the Safety Act approved list since DHS started handing out the designation in 2004. But Yankees Stadium is the first of what is expected to be many sports venues whose operators will then be immune from standard lawsuits that might be filed by future victims of terrorist attacks. (The National Football League was placed on the Safety Act list in 2008, but the designation was vague and probably only applies to the Super Bowl, experts say.)

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Supporters say the Safety Act gives strong incentives for firms to raise their security standards, and encourages innovation. Opponents say it unfairly terminates a basic consumer right, makes people less safe and serves as an under-the-radar version of tort reform. As evidence, opponents point out that the Safety Act framework is being copied for many other legislative initiatives, including the failed effort to pass a comprehensive Cybersecurity Bill this year.

It's the mother of all liability waivers, says George Washington University law Professor Ellen Zavian, an expert in sports law. But the question is, do fans know about it?

"There's waivers on ticket stubs ? but I haven't seen any waivers that state, 'Oh by the way? ? we can waive (liability) for terrorism attacks.'" Zavian said. "How did this get under the radar? Are people really supportive of that? I think attendees should know what they are waiving when they enter a facility, and I don't think they do."

The Safety Act (SAFETY is actually an acronym for "Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies") was passed as part of the legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security in 2002. And that's part of the problem, argues John Bowman, director of federal relations for the American Association for Justice.

"Clearly this was done in haste after 9/11," he said. "It was a fear-driven time. There was dramatic tort reform. It's fair to say these tort reformers took advantage of that moment. ...We disagree with the way the law is structured. We think it's not very helpful for fans if something happened."

The law would clearly be helpful to the Yankees if something happened. A report by the European Organisation for Security, which is helping the European Union consider similar terrorism-related tort reform, says that $40 billion in private claims was paid out by insurers in the wake of 9/11, with billions more in claims still unsettled.?The Safety Act would prevent many such lawsuits after a future 9/11-style attack.

'A marketing edge'
But the law does much more than offer the civil equivalent of a get-out-of-jail-free card, supporters argue. Bob Karl, who operates SafetyActConsultants.com and has helped dozens of companies achieve certification, says liability protection is absolutely essential for companies deploying newfangled anti-terrorism technologies. Companies are concerned that with each new gadget they deploy, they incur new liability, he said.

Karl gave the example of a company that had invented a new radioactivity detector for cargo containers on ships. Selling the detectors would be, initially, a tiny $10 million annual business for the multibillion-dollar company, but the firm feared that if something went wrong with its product, victims could sue for the entirety of the firm's value. It makes no sense for companies to take on risk like that, and the firm didn't start selling its detectors until it achieved Safety Act designation, he said. He declined to name the firm.

"It's very real concern, and Congress had that concern when it passed the law," he said.

With Safety Act protection, companies can afford to deploy unproven or newer technologies, knowing their risks are lower, he said. That makes everyone safer.

Also, he insisted, the Office of Safety Act Implementation, which grants the certification, has very high standards, and firms become safer merely by taking on the process.

"The fear is there would be some kind of double-secret handshake and they would just hand these things out. ? Well, that's not how it happens," he said. Many applications take years before they achieve final approvals. "I had one application recently that was 5,000 pages long," Karl said.

Meanwhile, Safety Act designation can give smaller companies, "a marketing edge," he said. "It's kind of like a Good Housekeeping seal of approval."

But even Karl agrees that the Safety Act was "tort reform at a very high level." Safety Act designation makes it impossible to sue a company after a terrorist attack for standard negligence ? a ticket-holder bringing in an explosive device in a purse that wasn?t detected during standard bag inspection by entrance guards, for instance. But it also grants a host of other legal rights. Victims who wish to pursue legal action after a terrorist attack can only do so in federal court; joint and several liability (in which any involved party can be liable for an entire disaster) is eliminated, which reduces firms' exposure; and there is a ban on punitive damages on interest accumulation related to any potential judgment.?Victims cannot sue for negligence; the only way to pierce Safety Act immunity is to prove fraud during the application process, or actual malice by the company.

Another concern expressed by opponents is that the definition of a terrorist attack is left vague by the law ? essentially, a terrorist attack is anything the Department of Homeland Security calls a terrorist attack, which could include domestic terrorism, such as the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 or even the recent Aurora, Colo., mass shooting.

One likely outcome of Safety Act protections could be lower insurance premiums for companies involved, thanks to caps on costs that could arise from a terrorist attack.

Bradley Shear, a civil litigation attorney and opponent of the Safety Act, said he didn't understand what was in it for fans.

"I think this is well intentioned, but can it equally protect businesses and the average consumer?" he said. "In return for the liability shield, what is the public getting? Are Yankees tickets going to be cheaper because they've been able to obtain Safety Act (designation)? Will the cost of a hot dog or a beer be any less?"

Or, as another opponent of the legislation said, has it just created a new consulting industry that earns millions helping companies navigate?the Safety Act application process? A quick search of Google shows there is indeed a thriving industry in Safety Act consulting.

David McWhorter, a consultant at Catalyst Partners in Washington D.C., which helped the Yankees with its Safety Act application, said critics have a misunderstanding of the approval process. Most companies are forced to raise their insurance coverage by the Office of Safety Act implementation, he said, adding that?he couldn?t think of a single case where firms were allowed to reduce their coverage. And insurance firms aren't yet offering security firms the equivalent of a "good driver discount," either.

In other words, they're not getting Safety Act coverage to save money today, he says. They do it because they become safer through the process, and because they want cost certainty.

"It's important for a facility to get a pre-emptive cap on liability," he said. "For any venue that has met the Safety Act standards, patrons can feel assured they are among the best of the best when comes to security. It?s a win-win for the public and for that venue."

McWhorter said when companies approach him for help with their application, he generally spends a lot of time consulting on how to improve the firm's security guard hiring and training processes. He also helps companies set up "red team" exercises -- mock attacks? -- to prepare them for the rigorous Homeland Security evaluation.?

"It's not inexpensive to provide security to a venue that holds 10,000 to 60,000 people," he said. "You have to consider hiring, training, exercises, cameras, alarms, mass notification systems, definition of the command structure, metal detectors, the auditing process, and so on."?

Sticking out like a sore thumb
Browsing the list of Safety Act designated technologies?on the Department of Homeland Security's website, visitors see a list of both familiar and unfamiliar names: ADT Security, Unisys and Securitas are listed alongside Massachusetts-based Ahura Scientific, for example. Many of the approved technologies are what you might expect: In March, American Science & Engineering got approval for X-Ray inspection systems; the aforementioned Ahura ? which recently changed its name to Thermo Scientific -- lists handheld devices that identify chemicals using "Raman spectroscopy."

On such a list, the Yankees stick out a bit like a sore thumb.

"New York Yankees d/b/a The New York Yankees Baseball Club provides The New York Yankees Security Program," the Safety Act office announcement says. "The Technology is a comprehensive integrated security system, which is comprised of physical and electronic security measures, tools and procedures designed to detect, deter, prevent, respond to and mitigate Acts of Terrorism at Yankee Stadium during Game Day, Non-Game Day (In-Season), Non-Season and Special Events."

One of these things is not like the other, complains Bowman.

?When you look at the law -- it's for makers and suppliers of technology," he said. "That was their intent, not to protect ballparks and give them a get-out-of-jail-free card, as long as they didn't lie ... during the approval process.?

The Yankees did not respond to a request for comment.

McWhorter says that sports venues are good candidates for Safety Act protection because they host major events that attract attention, and need incentives to go "above and beyond" standard levels of security.

"Yankee Stadium is not unlike the Cincinnati airport, the Stock Exchange, the NFL, or Super Bowl venues, all of which have received Safety Act protection," he said. "The regulations for the Safety Act are very clear that the (Department of Homeland Security) secretary has great flexibility in approving applications. Nevertheless, one criterion is, to paraphrase, 'To get Safety Act protection, you must demonstrate the need for Safety Act protection.'? The Safety Act incentivizes activities like vulnerability assessments and security upgrades, whereas without it some people might simply ignore threats in order to avoid any culpability."

Bowman said he didn't have a fundamental disagreement with the notion of encouraging invention of terrorism-fighting technologies, but feared that the Yankees designation proves the Safety Act is now casting a far wider net than originally intended. That's not a mistake, he thinks: Tort reformers try to gain more ground each time Congress takes up an industry issues or security issues, he said.

"We see this over and over in what we do. The first thing industry asks for are liability protections," he said, citing this year's cybersecurity bill as an example. "But if they are not accountable, they aren't responsible and no one is ultimately safe."

Karl, the Safety Act consultant, said he believes the Safety Act does make America safer, as all manner of security improvements are a standard part of the application process. He expects many more sports teams to apply -- and to receive -- Safety Act designation in the coming months and years, and he plans to pitch sports teams and facilities with his consulting services.

"The law is definitely working the way it's intended to," he said. "The Safety Act protects technologies that deter or respond to or mitigate a terrorist attack. ? That makes us all safer."

* Follow Bob Sullivan on Facebook.
* Follow Bob Sullivan on Twitter.?

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Source: http://redtape.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/21/13381431-yankees-win-protection-against-terrorism-but-what-did-you-lose?lite

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BIG FOOD: 34/52 Milk Tea Cebu hop SPROCKETS!

Hi week 34 and it's?intramural's?week, ?after the heavy midterm exams it's time to enjoy our University days! Whoaaa! Pause studying for a while and it's time to bargain Intramural's 2012 :D

After my terrible game (I played Badminton to represent our Department) I need to replenish of course. I was heading somewhere near Ayala Center Cebu to pick something and passed by?Sprockets cafe + Milk tea cafe?and had honeydew milk tea for 90 peeysees which was kinda "Bug-at sakong bulsa" (A little bit pricey for my pocket) but worth the taste.?






There's this pleasant excitement you can nourish while seeing the artistic interior which valued the owner's?interests. The skill and talent fused with food and drinks is another creative way of the the owner Rachel Arandilla of spreading?ingenuity and coolness to our fellow Cebuano's. Her love for?photography is shown in every corner of the place.?It's a place where you could have a drink and making your belly full by?feeding?it with lot's of treats from Sprockets!?

They look cute but they are the menu boards :D

I've always wanted to visit this place after I heard it was opened for the public, but?every time?I go there, there will always be gatherings and programs held inside so I rather cancel it and move to another place :( But I guess this week is my lucky week hehehehe :D

So my milk tea was 75% in sweetness and the creamy honey dew flavor was sweet but enticing. Over all the dainty smash of my drink was?subtle enough for the kid to forget my awful game and relieved me from the bad thoughts that dominated my head for these past few days.??

? MILK TEA MENU ?

? Classic milk tea series ?

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

?Assam milk tea

?Jasmine milk tea

?Oolong milk tea

? Special milk tea series ?

?Chocolate milk tea

?Honeydew milk tea?

?Taro milk tea?

?Black coffee milk tea?

?Wintermelon milk tea?

?Strawberry milk tea?

?Patty peppermint milk tea?

?Azuki milk tea?

?Toasted Hazelnut milk tea?

?English toffee milk tea?

?French Vanilla milk tea?

?Butterscotch milk tea?

?Caramel milk tea?

?Avocado milk tea?

BUDGET! 80.00-110.00 Philippine money ?

Note to taste: They serve American dishes, Pizzas, Sandwiches and Soul foods

Sprockets Cafe?

J. Block Apitong St.. 6000 Cebu City?

Open every Monday to Sunday 11:00 AM- 10:00 PM

Contact:

Mobile: 09228867477

Email: sprocketscebu@gmail.com

FACEBOOK??http://www.facebook.com/sprocketscafe TWITTER? ??https://twitter.com/sprocketscafe

Have a great Milk tea day at Sprockets! ?

Ciao ?

Winsome!?

Source: http://bigfoodforlife.blogspot.com/2012/08/3452-milk-tea-cebu-hop-sprockets.html

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Underwater Dog Photographer Helping Shelter Pets | Care2 Healthy ...

By Eve Becker, TAILS contributor

Pet photographer Seth Casteel enjoys the unexpected. And that?s a good thing, since his photos of dogs?taken as he plays underwater with them?have become a viral overnight success.

Casteel?s underwater photos reveal surprising emotions: a Labrador Retriever menacingly bares his teeth, a Bulldog looks wide-eyed in astonishment, and a Border Collie appears slightly goofy as she dives after a tennis ball. ?I?m drawn to the emotions of dogs because they have a similar range of emotions as we do. It?s fun to see the exaggerated expressions from these dogs,? says Casteel, who splits his time between Chicago and Los Angeles.

?My whole thing is that I do what the pets like to do. I don?t put them in the studio. I do it on their terms and embrace what they like to do,? Casteel says.

Casteel first dove into a pool with a dog when he was taking photos of Buster, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Buster jumped into the water and Casteel wanted a better vantage point. So he excused himself from the photo shoot, bought a point-and-shoot underwater camera, and plunged into the pool with Buster.

Casteel started shooting more underwater photos of dogs and eventually splurged to buy an underwater housing for his camera. His friends thought he was crazy.

Fast forward to this past February when his underwater dog photos suddenly exploded online. Fans posted his photos to Reddit.com and Google+ and they literally took off overnight. The next morning, Casteel?s website hits jumped from 200 to 30,000, causing his site to crash.

Since then, Casteel has been running with the big dogs. He signed a book deal with top publishing house Little Brown for a book that will be out late October, featuring his underwater dog photos. He has been featured on CNN World Report, Good Morning America, and in newspapers and magazines across the world from The New York Times to the South China Morning Post and Vanity Fair Italy.

He?s had to turn down private clients through his pet photography company, Little Friends Photo. ?I went from not having enough business to having too much business,? he says.

Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/underwater-dog-photographer-helping-shelter-pets.html

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Phyllis Diller blazed trail for female comedians

FILE--In this May 20, 1966 file photo, comedian Phyllis Diller appears in character in the ABC-TV comedy series ''The Pruitts of Southampton''. Diller, the housewife turned humorist who aimed some of her sharpest barbs at herself, died Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, at age 95 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/File)

FILE--In this May 20, 1966 file photo, comedian Phyllis Diller appears in character in the ABC-TV comedy series ''The Pruitts of Southampton''. Diller, the housewife turned humorist who aimed some of her sharpest barbs at herself, died Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, at age 95 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/File)

FILE-- In this in this March 18, 1966 file photo, comedian Phyllis Diller models one of her 300 hats in Hollywood, Calif. Diller, the housewife turned humorist who aimed some of her sharpest barbs at herself, died Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, at age 95 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/File)

FILE--In this October 1969 file photo, Comedian Phyllis Diller poses for a portrait. Diller, the housewife turned humorist who aimed some of her sharpest barbs at herself, died Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, at age 95 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/File)

FILE-In this undated file photo, Comedian Phyllis Diller performs in character. Diller, the housewife turned humorist who aimed some of her sharpest barbs at herself, died Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, at age 95 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/NBC-TV, File)

FILE-In this Oct. 9, 1985, file photo, Comedian Phyllis Diller gets a lift from emcee Buddy Hackett prior to the celebrity stag luncheon roast at the New York Friars Club in New York City. Diller, the housewife turned humorist who aimed some of her sharpest barbs at herself, died Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, at age 95 in Los Angeles.(AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Long before Kathy Griffin was languishing on the D-list, Roseanne Barr was calling herself a domestic goddess and Joan Rivers was asking audiences if they could talk, wild-haired housewife-turned-comedian Phyllis Diller was dishing one-liners about her husband, Fang.

"I should have suspected my husband was lazy," she once joked. "On our wedding day, his mother told me, 'I'm not losing a son. I'm gaining a couch.'"

Diller was the template for self-deprecating female comedians. She not only motivated a generation of funny women, such as Ellen DeGeneres and Whoopi Goldberg, her silver-tongued zingers ? often punctuated by her trademark cackle ? paved the way for them. And she inspired funny guys, too.

"Loved her," wrote Andy Richter on Twitter on Monday. "Sad to hear she died. A hero of mine." Dane Cook called her "a funny human being that brought tons of laughs to this world," while Patton Oswalt said she always seemed "genuinely tickled and happy" during her near century of life.

Diller passed away Monday morning in her Los Angeles home at age 95. She faced the end, fittingly, "with a smile on her face," said longtime manager Milton Suchin. The comedian, who suffered a near-fatal heart attack in 1999, was found by her son, Perry Diller. The cause of her death has not been released.

She wasn't the first woman to crack jokes on stage; Gracie Allen had been getting laughs for decades playing dumb for George Burns. But Diller was among the first who didn't need a man around. The only guy in her act was a husband named Fang, who was never seen and didn't exist.

"Please recognize she paved the way single handedly for years for us female comedians," wrote Griffin on Twitter.

The Friars Club released a statement Monday noting that in 1988 Diller was among the first women admitted ? legitimately. A few years earlier, she had snuck in for a Sid Caesar roast, dressed as a man.

Born Phyllis Driver in Lima, Ohio, she married Sherwood Diller right out of school (Bluffton College) and was a housewife for several years before getting outside work. She was an advertising writer for a radio station when the Purple Onion helped launch her. She made her network TV debut as a contestant on Groucho Marx's game show, "You Bet Your Life."

Diller, asked if she was married: "Yes, I've worn a wedding ring for 18 years." Marx replied: "Really? Well, two more payments and it'll be all yours."

She credited the self-help book, "The Magic of Believing" by Claude M. Bristol, with giving her the courage to enter the business. Over the years, she would recommend it to aspiring entertainers, even buying it for them sometimes.

Diller worked steadily for decades, in nightclubs and on television. She built her stand-up act around the persona of the corner-cutting housewife ("I bury a lot of my ironing in the backyard") with bizarre looks, a wardrobe to match (by "Omar of Omaha") and the faithful Fang.

Wrote Time magazine in 1961: "Onstage comes something that, by its own description, looks like a sackful of doorknobs. With hair dyed by Alcoa, pipe-cleaner limbs and knees just missing one another when the feet are wide apart, this is not Princess Volupine. It is Phyllis Diller, the poor man's Auntie Mame, only successful female among the New Wave comedians and one of the few women funny and tough enough to belt out a 'standup' act of one-line gags."

"I was one of those life-of-the-party types," Diller said in 1965. "You'll find them in every bridge club, at every country club. People invited me to parties only because they knew I would supply some laughs. They still do."

She didn't get into comedy until she was nearly 40, after her first husband, Sherwood Diller, prodded her for two years to give up her advertising career. Through it all, she was also a busy mother. "We had five kids at the time. I don't how he thought we'd handle that," she said in 2006.

A Chicago Tribune columnist, describing her appearance at a nightspot there in 1958, noted she was from San Francisco, hailed her as "the weirdest, wildest yet" ? and made sure to mention her five youngsters.

Her husband managed her career until the couple's 25-year marriage fell apart in the 1960s. Shortly after her divorce she married entertainer Warde Donovan, but they separated within months. Through both marriages and other relationships, "Fang" remained.

"Fang is permanent in the act, of course," she once said. "Don't confuse him with my real husbands. They're temporary."

She also appeared in movies, including "Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number" and "Eight on the Lam" with Bob Hope. Diller had a cameo in "Splendor in the Grass" and was among the voices in the animated "A Bug's Life."

In 1966-67, she was the star of an ABC sitcom about a society family trying to stave off bankruptcy, "The Pruitts of Southampton." Gypsy Rose Lee played a nosy neighbor. In 1968, she was host of a short-lived variety series, "The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show."

But standup comedy was her first love. Although she could be serious during interviews, sooner or later a joke would pop out, often as not followed by her outrageous cackle: "AH-HHAAAAAAAAAAAA-HA-HA-HA!"

"It's my real laugh," she once said. "It's in the family. When I was a kid my father called me the laughing hyena."

Her looks were a frequent topic, and she did everything she could to accentuate them ? negatively. She wore outrageous fright wigs and deliberately shopped for stage shoes that made her legs look as skinny as possible.

"The older I get, the funnier I get," she said in 1961. "Think what I'll save in not having my face lifted."

She felt different about plastic surgery later, though, and her face, and other body parts, underwent a remarkable transformation. Efforts to be beautiful became a mainstay of her act.

Commenting in 1995 about the repainting of the Hollywood sign, she cracked, "It took 300 gallons, almost as much as I put on every morning." She said her home "used to be haunted, but the ghosts haven't been back since the night I tried on all my wigs."

She recovered from a 1999 heart attack with the help of a pacemaker, but finally retired in 2002, saying advancing age was making it too difficult for her to spend several weeks a year on the road. "I have energy, but I don't have lasting energy," she said in 2006. "You have to know your limitations."

Diller continued to take occasional small parts in movies and TV shows ("Family Guy") and pursued painting as a serious hobby. She published her autobiography, "Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse," in 2005. The 2006 film "Goodnight, We Love You" documented her career.

When she turned 90 in July 2007, she fractured a bone in her back and was forced to cancel a planned birthday appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." But it didn't stop her from wisecracking: "I still take the pill 'cause I don't want any more grandchildren."

Her other books included "Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints" and "Phyllis Diller's Marriage Manual."

"Don't get me wrong, though," she said in a 1982 interview that threatened to turn serious. "I'm a comic. I don't deal with problems when I'm working."

"I want people to laugh."

___

Associated Press writers Hillel Italie, Sandy Cohen, John Rogers and Polly Anderson contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-08-21-Obit-Phyllis%20Diller/id-9aa299ea0e0b4e098053bd696e29677e

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Jackie Kay: Reality, Reality

Jackie Kay: Reality, Reality

Thursday 11 October 2012, 7.30 ? 9pm.

Birmingham Cathedral, Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 2QB

?10 / ?6

Sponsored by Newman University College, Birmingham.

In fifteen extraordinary stories, Jackie Kay celebrates the richness and power of dream-life to inspire, to repair, and to make real.

The wonderful novelist and poet Jackie Kay is also a brilliant writer of short stories. Her new collection of stories,?Reality, Reality, plays with the theme?of reality, but also focuses on the lives of real people, often those who go unnoticed, who are coping with loss, desperation or delusion. Heart-breaking but at turns laugh-out-loud funny, these are interi
Jackie Kay will give our second annual ?address from the pulpit? in Birmingham Cathedral, following Will Self?s engaging homily on walking last year. She will read some of the fifteen stories from?Reality, Reality,?and offer her own commentary on the points where the physicality of our lives blurs into an alternative reality and sometimes into a new awakening or spirituality.or monologues that show Jackie?s extraordinary ear for how we speak and what we really mean.

Jackie was born in Glasgow. She has published novels, collections of poetry and short stories and memoir. In 2006 she was awarded an MBE for services to literature. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University. Her poems have appeared in many anthologies, and she has written widely for stage and television.

The evening will be introduced by Dean Catherine Ogle of Birmingham Cathedral, and chaired by Jonathan Davidson, Chief Executive of Writing West Midlands.

To book please call the BOX on 0121 248 4455 or click?here.

This entry was posted by Birmingham Book Festival on August 20, 2012 at 4:51 pm, and is filed under Events. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Source: http://www.birminghambookfestival.org/jackie-kay-reality-reality-3872/

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Why Link Building Service Is Vital to Online Business? | Idadctyva

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Google prefers continuous activity of a website in the web, which is to be considered a fundamental rule in achieving higher positions in popular search. Creating hyperlinks may give access to better rankings, but you need to impress Google with the quality and relevancy aspect of one way links that you collect from different web pages. You must understand the importance of inbound links, which are vital for the Google algorithm.

You should adopt a transparent technique to collect one way links in a totally ethical manner and be cautious concerning links from link farms, which should be immediately rejected to avoid most horrible consequences. You should interact with the proposed link building service on the subject of methodology of obtaining one way links for your business website and start with a trial project with the link building company to judge the suitability of the service for your online business.

You need effective link building if you are engaged in internet marketing where you sell your products or services and must rely on this aforesaid to attain higher rankings in search results and enjoy improved traffic for the growth of your online business.

Source: http://idadctyva.org/why-link-building-service-is-vital-to-online-business

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