News & General Info

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Day Two: President Obama signs more important executive orders

President Barack Obama delivered on more campaign promises today. At the White House, the president signed three executive orders: one to close the controversial U.S. run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and two others banning torture and setting up a task force to oversee these changes. These swift decisions are a clear break with the Bush administration and send a message to the world. President Obama says: “This […]
Thursday, January 22, 2009

13 Oscar nominations for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Movie inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story.   Voters for the 81st Annual Academy Awards were apparently dazzled by the journey of a man who ages backward in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” When the Oscar nominations for 2008 were announced bright and early in Beverly Hills today, this film was mentioned 13 times — more than any other. For some 13 […]
Wednesday, January 21, 2009

A do-over on the oath of office for President Obama

Today Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to President Obama for a second time.   Millions of people on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across the country, and around the world cheered after the swearing-in yesterday of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. It probably did not matter to most of them […]
Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Writing query letters that get noticed by agents

  Two agent/bloggers are showcasing query letters from authors that grabbed their attention. The authors who wrote these knockout queries got requests for their manuscripts and later representation. Last Friday Kristin Nelson, on her Pub Rant blog, discussed one of her client’s boffo queries.  Also, over at the BookEnds, LLC – A Literary Agency blog, Jessica Faust is posting a series of successful author query letters. Faust not […]
Wednesday, January 21, 2009

President Obama gets down to business

  President Obama meets with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in the Oval Office.   The parties and celebrations of the historic inauguration of the 44th president are over. (Technical problems on my site blocked me from blogging yesterday. Some of the glitches are still being worked out.)  Meanwhile today, President Barack Obama got down to the business of running […]
Monday, January 19, 2009

On MLK Day Obama calls for service and commitment to others

As part of his activities on this Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, President-elect Barack Obama today visited  a shelter for homeless and runaway teens in Washington, D.C.  A renovation project was underway, so the future president picked up a roller brush and helped paint.   “Today, we celebrate the life of a preacher who, more than 45 years ago, stood on our National Mall […]
Monday, January 19, 2009

January 19, 2009 MLK Day: The man and his dream of equality for all

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  ( January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) His life and legacy remembered on a national holiday every third Monday of January.   “And I must confess, my friends  that the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will still be rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here […]
Sunday, January 18, 2009

“We Are One” concert at the Lincoln Memorial

  Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times   Somewhere between 500-and-750-thousand people ignored frigid temperatures to gather on the National Mall in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. today for the “We Are One” concert. Superstars who took part in the event included Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Garth Brooks, Stevie Wonder, U2, Usher, James Taylor, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, […]
Sunday, January 18, 2009

Several new movies fire-up the weekend Box Office

  “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”  #1 at the Box Office   Movie theaters reportedly are doing great business over this long Martin Luther King Junior Holiday weekend. Leading the pack of films at the Box Office, a new contender “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” which is now the number one flick in the country. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” racked up an estimated $34 […]