Congratulations are in order for Motley Crue star Nikki Sixx and his new fiancee Courtney Bingham.After two years of dating, Sixx, 53, proposed to Bingham, 27, during a vacation to St. Bart’s this past weekend.
Nikki Sixx Engaged: Motley Crue Rocker To Marry Courtney Bingham
Congratulations are in order for Motley Crue star Nikki Sixx and his new fiancee Courtney Bingham.After two years of dating, Sixx, 53, proposed to Bingham, 27, during a vacation to St. Bart’s this past weekend.
History of Homo erectus soloensis
Homo erectus soloensis, known as Solo Man and formerly classified as Homo sapiens soloensis, is generally now regarded as a subspecies of the extinct hominin, Homo erectus. The only known specimens of this anomalous hominid were retrieved from sites along the Bengawan Solo River, on the Indonesian island of Java. The remains are also commonly referred to as Ngandong, after the village near where they were first recovered.
Though its morphology was, for the most part, typical of Homo erectus, its culture was unusually advanced. This poses many problems to current theories concerning the limitations of Homo erectus behavior in terms of innovation and language. Its cranial capacity ranged between 1013–1251 cm³, placing it amongst the larger-brained members of the Homo genus.
Due to the tools found with the extinct hominid and many of its more gracile anatomical features, it was first classified as a subspecies (once called Javanthropus) of Homo sapiens and thought to be the ancestor of modern aboriginal Australians. However, more rigorous studies have concluded that this is not the case. Analysis of 18 crania from Sangiran, Trinil, Sambungmacan, and Ngandong show chronological development from the Bapang-AG to Ngandong periods. H. e. soloensis was re-dated in 2011 to between 550,000 and 143,000 years old.
Though its morphology was, for the most part, typical of Homo erectus, its culture was unusually advanced. This poses many problems to current theories concerning the limitations of Homo erectus behavior in terms of innovation and language. Its cranial capacity ranged between 1013–1251 cm³, placing it amongst the larger-brained members of the Homo genus.
Due to the tools found with the extinct hominid and many of its more gracile anatomical features, it was first classified as a subspecies (once called Javanthropus) of Homo sapiens and thought to be the ancestor of modern aboriginal Australians. However, more rigorous studies have concluded that this is not the case. Analysis of 18 crania from Sangiran, Trinil, Sambungmacan, and Ngandong show chronological development from the Bapang-AG to Ngandong periods. H. e. soloensis was re-dated in 2011 to between 550,000 and 143,000 years old.
Adam Smith and The Wealth of Nations :)
Adam Smith (1723–1790) is popularly seen as the father of modern political economy. His publication of the An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776 happened to coincide not only with the American Revolution, shortly before the Europe wide upheavals of the French Revolution, but also the dawn of a new industrial revolution that allowed more wealth to be created on a larger scale than ever before. Smith was a Scottish moral philosopher, whose first book was The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759). He argued in it that people's ethical systems develop through personal relations with other individuals, that right and wrong are sensed through others' reactions to one's behaviour. This gained Smith more popularity than his next work, The Wealth of Nations, which the general public initially ignored. Yet Smith's political economic magnum opus was successful in circles that mattered.
Context
William Pitt, the Tory Prime Minister in the late 1780s based his tax proposals on Smith's ideas and advocated free trade as a devout disciple of The Wealth of Nations. Smith was appointed a commissioner of customs and within twenty years Smith had a following of new generation writers who were intent on building the science of political economy.
Smith expressed an affinity himself to the opinions of Edmund Burke, known widely as a political philosopher, a Member of Parliament.
Burke was an established political economist himself, with his book Thoughts and Details on Scarcity. He was widely critical of liberal politics, and condemned the French Revolution which began in 1789. In Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) he wrote that the "age of chivalry is dead, that of sophisters, economists and calculators has succeeded, and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever." Smith's contemporary influences included François Quesnay and Jacques Turgot whom he met on a stay in Paris, and David Hume, his Scottish compatriot. The times produced a common need among thinkers to explain social upheavals of the Industrial revolution taking place, and in the seeming chaos without the feudal and monarchical structures of Europe, show there was order still.
Context
William Pitt, the Tory Prime Minister in the late 1780s based his tax proposals on Smith's ideas and advocated free trade as a devout disciple of The Wealth of Nations. Smith was appointed a commissioner of customs and within twenty years Smith had a following of new generation writers who were intent on building the science of political economy.
Smith expressed an affinity himself to the opinions of Edmund Burke, known widely as a political philosopher, a Member of Parliament.
Burke is the only man I ever knew who thinks on economic subjects exactly as I do without any previous communication having passed between us.
Burke was an established political economist himself, with his book Thoughts and Details on Scarcity. He was widely critical of liberal politics, and condemned the French Revolution which began in 1789. In Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) he wrote that the "age of chivalry is dead, that of sophisters, economists and calculators has succeeded, and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever." Smith's contemporary influences included François Quesnay and Jacques Turgot whom he met on a stay in Paris, and David Hume, his Scottish compatriot. The times produced a common need among thinkers to explain social upheavals of the Industrial revolution taking place, and in the seeming chaos without the feudal and monarchical structures of Europe, show there was order still.
State of German Economics during the Interwar Period
After World War I, Germany was forced to pay all of the war reparations after the Treaty of Versailles. These reparations along with the economic climate within Germany during this time period led to the fall of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party.
The reconstruction period was based on private investment and demand. When the stock market crashed in 1929, the investors who had been financing Germany pulled out, crippling its economy.
The reconstruction period was based on private investment and demand. When the stock market crashed in 1929, the investors who had been financing Germany pulled out, crippling its economy.
Depression in Germany Post WWI
State of German Economics during the Interwar Period
After World War I, Germany was forced to pay all of the war reparations after the Treaty of Versailles. These reparations along with the economic climate within Germany during this time period led to the fall of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. The reconstruction period was based on private investment and demand. When the stock market crashed in 1929, the investors who had been financing Germany pulled out, crippling its economy.
Employmemt
During the interwar period, the unemployment rates in Germany were estimated to be 1.7 to 1.8 million people in July 1932. This did not include those who had become discouraged and had withdrawn from the labor force completely. The sectors which were hardest hit by unemployment were those concentrating in industrial work. Nearly 50% of workers in the iron and steel industry were unemployed, the textile industry faced an unemployment rate of 40%. The building industry was one of the hardest hit, at 84%, because there was no growth in the economy, causing a lack of demand for new buildings. These unemployment issues led to a fall of 40% in industrial production from 1929 to 1933.
The Dawes Plan
The Dawes Plan was adopted in August 1924 as a result of Germany's inability to repay its war reparations as the Treaty of Versailles had previously drawn up. Germany was unable to pay reparations due to their unwillingness to raise their taxes while their Reichsmark became inflated to the point that it was almost worthless. The Dawes Plan was created to stabilize Germany's currency while reducing the payments required per period. This allowed American and British bankers to hand out loans to Germany, so its industry would be able to expand to pay off the massive debts. The new payment regulations that were enacted with the Dawes Plan were such that the first year, Germany had to pay one billion marks the first year. After the first year, the amount owed would increase until it reached 2.5 billion marks.
After World War I, Germany was forced to pay all of the war reparations after the Treaty of Versailles. These reparations along with the economic climate within Germany during this time period led to the fall of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. The reconstruction period was based on private investment and demand. When the stock market crashed in 1929, the investors who had been financing Germany pulled out, crippling its economy.
Employmemt
During the interwar period, the unemployment rates in Germany were estimated to be 1.7 to 1.8 million people in July 1932. This did not include those who had become discouraged and had withdrawn from the labor force completely. The sectors which were hardest hit by unemployment were those concentrating in industrial work. Nearly 50% of workers in the iron and steel industry were unemployed, the textile industry faced an unemployment rate of 40%. The building industry was one of the hardest hit, at 84%, because there was no growth in the economy, causing a lack of demand for new buildings. These unemployment issues led to a fall of 40% in industrial production from 1929 to 1933.
The Dawes Plan
The Dawes Plan was adopted in August 1924 as a result of Germany's inability to repay its war reparations as the Treaty of Versailles had previously drawn up. Germany was unable to pay reparations due to their unwillingness to raise their taxes while their Reichsmark became inflated to the point that it was almost worthless. The Dawes Plan was created to stabilize Germany's currency while reducing the payments required per period. This allowed American and British bankers to hand out loans to Germany, so its industry would be able to expand to pay off the massive debts. The new payment regulations that were enacted with the Dawes Plan were such that the first year, Germany had to pay one billion marks the first year. After the first year, the amount owed would increase until it reached 2.5 billion marks.
History of EABH, The European Association for Banking and Financial
The European Association for Banking History (EABH) e.V. was founded in 1990 in Frankfurt, Germany by Manfred Pohl, as a forum for research into the history of banking, insurance and finance. Members consist of close to 100 European and international banking, insurance and financial institutions, amongst them most of the European Central Banks.
OBJECTIVES
EABH is a European network that acts as a bridge between bankers, financiers, academics and archivists. EABH supports research into all aspects of banking, insurance and financial history, from the earliest innovations in the middle-ages, to developments since the industrial revolution and in the present. What drives the Association is the concept that the better our knowledge and understanding of past precedents in the field of banking and finance, the better equipped we are to make sound decisions today. For this reason the EABH encourages a genuine broadening of public understanding about how and why banks and financial institutions support and shape our economy and society.
ACTIVITIES
The Association supports the preservation of historical documents relating to banking and finance, promotes banking and financial archives, and supports the exchange of experience on best practices relating to banking and financial archives management, inter alia through the organisation of seminars and collaboration with scientific institutions. The EABH maintains a European network of professionals and academics, with the aim of strengthening the understanding of banking and finance in Europe. EABH members profit from trainings, conferences and proceeding publications which offer an opportunity to learn from the past in order to deal successfully with the challenges of the present. EABH promotes the art of the archivist and in so doing supports the circulation of sound information and new research findings in the field. The EABH offers assistance to its corporate members, advising on their archives´ organisation and development plans as well as on staff training.
OBJECTIVES
EABH is a European network that acts as a bridge between bankers, financiers, academics and archivists. EABH supports research into all aspects of banking, insurance and financial history, from the earliest innovations in the middle-ages, to developments since the industrial revolution and in the present. What drives the Association is the concept that the better our knowledge and understanding of past precedents in the field of banking and finance, the better equipped we are to make sound decisions today. For this reason the EABH encourages a genuine broadening of public understanding about how and why banks and financial institutions support and shape our economy and society.
ACTIVITIES
The Association supports the preservation of historical documents relating to banking and finance, promotes banking and financial archives, and supports the exchange of experience on best practices relating to banking and financial archives management, inter alia through the organisation of seminars and collaboration with scientific institutions. The EABH maintains a European network of professionals and academics, with the aim of strengthening the understanding of banking and finance in Europe. EABH members profit from trainings, conferences and proceeding publications which offer an opportunity to learn from the past in order to deal successfully with the challenges of the present. EABH promotes the art of the archivist and in so doing supports the circulation of sound information and new research findings in the field. The EABH offers assistance to its corporate members, advising on their archives´ organisation and development plans as well as on staff training.
Nobel Prize winning economic historians
Nobel Prize winning economic historians, Here they are:
- Milton Friedman won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1976 for "his achievements in the fields of consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and for his demonstration of the complexity of stabilization policy".
- Robert Fogel and Douglass North won the Nobel in 1993 for "having renewed research in economic history by applying economic theory and quantitative methods in order to explain economic and institutional change".
- Merton Miller, who started his academic career teaching economic history at the LSE, won the Nobel in 1990 with Harry Markowitz and William Sharpe.
Relationship between economics and economic history
Relationship between economics and economic history - Yale University economist Irving Fisher wrote in 1933 on the relationship between economics and economic history in his "Debt-Deflation Theory of Great Depressions" (Econometrica, Vol. 1, No. 4: 337–338): 'The study of dis-equilibrium may proceed in either of two ways. We may take as our unit for study an actual historical case of great dis-equilibrium, such as, say, the panic of 1873; or we may take as our unit for study any constituent tendency, such as, say, deflation, and discover its general laws, relations to, and combinations with, other tendencies.
The former study revolves around events, or facts; the latter, around tendencies. The former is primarily economic history; the latter is primarily economic science. Both sorts of studies are proper and important. Each helps the other. The panic of 1873 can only be understood in light of the various tendencies involved—deflation and other; and deflation can only be understood in the light of various historical manifestations—1873 and other."
There is a school of thought among economic historians that splits economic history—the study of how economic phenomena evolved in the past—from historical economics—testing the generality of economic theory using historical episodes. US economic historian Charles P. Kindleberger explained this position in his 1990 book Historical Economics: Art or Science?.One of the professional societies for economic historians in Europe is also called the European Historical Economics Society to reflect this emphasis. The new economic history, also known as cliometrics, refers to the systematic use of economic theory and/or econometric techniques to the study of economic history.
The term cliometrics was originally coined by Jonathan R. T. Hughes and Stanley Reiter in 1960 and refers to Clio, who was the muse of history and heroic poetry in Greek mythology. Cliometricians argue their approach is necessary because the application of theory is crucial in writing solid economic history, while historians generally oppose this view warning against the risk of generating anachronisms. Early cliometrics was a type of counterfactual history. However, counterfactualism is no longer its distinctive feature. Some have argued that cliometrics had its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s and that it is now neglected by economists and historians.
The former study revolves around events, or facts; the latter, around tendencies. The former is primarily economic history; the latter is primarily economic science. Both sorts of studies are proper and important. Each helps the other. The panic of 1873 can only be understood in light of the various tendencies involved—deflation and other; and deflation can only be understood in the light of various historical manifestations—1873 and other."
There is a school of thought among economic historians that splits economic history—the study of how economic phenomena evolved in the past—from historical economics—testing the generality of economic theory using historical episodes. US economic historian Charles P. Kindleberger explained this position in his 1990 book Historical Economics: Art or Science?.One of the professional societies for economic historians in Europe is also called the European Historical Economics Society to reflect this emphasis. The new economic history, also known as cliometrics, refers to the systematic use of economic theory and/or econometric techniques to the study of economic history.
The term cliometrics was originally coined by Jonathan R. T. Hughes and Stanley Reiter in 1960 and refers to Clio, who was the muse of history and heroic poetry in Greek mythology. Cliometricians argue their approach is necessary because the application of theory is crucial in writing solid economic history, while historians generally oppose this view warning against the risk of generating anachronisms. Early cliometrics was a type of counterfactual history. However, counterfactualism is no longer its distinctive feature. Some have argued that cliometrics had its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s and that it is now neglected by economists and historians.
What is North Korean assassination weapons?
North Korean assassination weapons - All you might feel is someone brush by you and a slight pin prick. But very quickly you would be suffering muscle paralysis followed by suffocation. You would be dead within a very short period of time.
This is the deadly effect of just one of the weapons found on a failed North Korean assassin last year on the busy streets of Seoul, now shown exclusively to CNN.
Disguised to look like a Parker ballpoint pen, it contains a poison needle and is practically impossible to identify as a weapon.
The second pen shoots a poison-filled bullet which penetrates the skin and releases the toxin and the third weapon is a flashlight, loaded with up to three bullets. They all look completely innocuous but all three will kill.
An individual willing to be identified only as an "investigation official" showed CNN the weapons, pointing out the flashlight as the most significant find. "This flashlight is new," the man familiar with North Korean assassination devices said.
"I've never seen this weapon. If you look at the front, there are three holes, there was a bullet in each hole and here is the trigger. This is currently loaded and dangerous, two bullets remain."
The third bullet had been fired by investigation authorities to test the weapon. It was accurate and deadly. The would-be assassin who was carrying these devices was arrested on his way to kill his target.
That target was anti-North Korea activist, Park Sang-hak, who has since been given round-the-clock police protection by South Korean authorities. We showed Park the footage of the weapons intended for him. He was shocked.
"You'd notice a gun, but these weapons are so innocuous, you can easily kill someone, I'd be dead immediately."
Park says he will continue to send anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border in balloons, a practice which has angered the regime, sparking threats of military retaliation. He was aware he was at the top of North Korea's hit list.
Park had been in contact with the would-be assassin, named only as Ahn, as Ahn had expressed interest in funding his activism. He was on his way to meet him when the National Intelligence Service intervened and stopped him. It was at that meeting Ahn was believed to have planned to kill Park, according to South Korean authorities. Ahn was convicted in April and sentenced to four years in prison.
"I didn't believe they'd try and kill me on the crowded streets of Seoul, I thought the NIS was over-reacting," Park said.
He now knows they saved his life but is also convinced that it will not be the last attempt on his life.
Copyright 2012 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
This is the deadly effect of just one of the weapons found on a failed North Korean assassin last year on the busy streets of Seoul, now shown exclusively to CNN.
Disguised to look like a Parker ballpoint pen, it contains a poison needle and is practically impossible to identify as a weapon.
The second pen shoots a poison-filled bullet which penetrates the skin and releases the toxin and the third weapon is a flashlight, loaded with up to three bullets. They all look completely innocuous but all three will kill.
An individual willing to be identified only as an "investigation official" showed CNN the weapons, pointing out the flashlight as the most significant find. "This flashlight is new," the man familiar with North Korean assassination devices said.
"I've never seen this weapon. If you look at the front, there are three holes, there was a bullet in each hole and here is the trigger. This is currently loaded and dangerous, two bullets remain."
The third bullet had been fired by investigation authorities to test the weapon. It was accurate and deadly. The would-be assassin who was carrying these devices was arrested on his way to kill his target.
That target was anti-North Korea activist, Park Sang-hak, who has since been given round-the-clock police protection by South Korean authorities. We showed Park the footage of the weapons intended for him. He was shocked.
"You'd notice a gun, but these weapons are so innocuous, you can easily kill someone, I'd be dead immediately."
Park says he will continue to send anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border in balloons, a practice which has angered the regime, sparking threats of military retaliation. He was aware he was at the top of North Korea's hit list.
Park had been in contact with the would-be assassin, named only as Ahn, as Ahn had expressed interest in funding his activism. He was on his way to meet him when the National Intelligence Service intervened and stopped him. It was at that meeting Ahn was believed to have planned to kill Park, according to South Korean authorities. Ahn was convicted in April and sentenced to four years in prison.
"I didn't believe they'd try and kill me on the crowded streets of Seoul, I thought the NIS was over-reacting," Park said.
He now knows they saved his life but is also convinced that it will not be the last attempt on his life.
Copyright 2012 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Jamie Foxx's praise of Pres. Obama over the top?
In the pre-recorded program that was broadcast Sunday night on BET, Foxx urges the audience to "first of all, give an honor to God - and our Lord and savior, Barack Obama!"
The audience responds with cheers as Foxx shouts the president's name again and urges them to "stand up."
On the Human Events blog, John Hayward writes, "Practicing Christians are not amused by the portrayal of modern secular politicians as replacements for Jesus. But presumably their feelings don't count, because they won't burn anything down in outrage."
Catholic League President Bill Donohue notes that last December, Foxx said he didn't know what God meant to him. On the league's website, Donohue says Obama has apparently convinced "Jamie Foxx, and no doubt legions of others, that God exists."
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Mexican beauty queen killed in shootout
The body of Maria Susana Flores Gamez was found Saturday lying near an assault rifle on a rural road in a mountainous area of the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa, the chief state prosecutor said Monday. It was unclear if she had used the weapon.
"She was with the gang of criminals, but we cannot say whether she participated in the shootout," state prosecutor Marco Antonio Higuera said. "That's what we're going to have to investigate."
The slender, 5-foot-7-inch brunette was voted the 2012 Woman of Sinaloa in a beauty pageant in February. In June, the model competed with other seven contestants for the more prestigious state beauty contest, Our Beauty Sinaloa, but didn't win. The Our Beauty state winners compete for the Miss Mexico title, whose holder represents the country in the international Miss Universe.
Higuera said Flores Gamez was traveling in one of the vehicles that engaged soldiers in an hours-long chase and running gun battle on Saturday near her native city of Guamuchil in the state of Sinaloa, home to Mexico's most powerful drug cartel. Higuera said two other members of the drug gang were killed and four were detained.
The shootout began when the gunmen opened fire on a Mexican army patrol. Soldiers gave chase and cornered the gang at a safe house in the town of Mocorito. The other men escaped, and the gunbattle continued along a nearby roadway, where the gang's vehicles were eventually stopped. Six vehicles, drugs and weapons were seized following the confrontation.
It was at least the third instance in which a beauty queen or pageant contestants have been linked to Mexico's violent drug gangs, a theme so common it was the subject of a critically acclaimed 2011 movie.
In "Miss Bala," Mexico's official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of this year's Academy Awards, a young woman competing for Miss Baja California becomes an unwilling participant in a drug-running ring, finally getting arrested for deeds she was forced into performing.
In real life, former Miss Sinaloa Laura Zuniga was stripped of her 2008 crown in the Hispanoamerican Queen pageant after she was detained on suspicion of drug and weapons violations. She was later released without charges.
Zuniga was detained in western Mexico in late 2010 along with seven men, some of them suspected drug traffickers. Authorities found a large stash of weapons, ammunition and $53,300 with them inside a vehicle.
In 2011, a Colombian former model and pageant contestant was detained along with Jose Jorge Balderas, an accused drug trafficker and suspect in the 2010 bar shooting of Salvador Cabanas, a former star for Paraguay's national football team and Mexico's Club America. She was also later released.
Higuera said Flores Gamez's body has been turned over to relatives for burial.
"This is a sad situation," Higuera told a local radio station. She had been enrolled in media courses at a local university, and had been modeling and in pageants since at least 2009.
Javier Valdez, the author of a 2009 book about narco ties to beauty pageants entitled "Miss Narco," said "this is a recurrent story."
"There is a relationship, sometimes pleasant and sometimes tragic, between organized crime and the beauty queens, the pageants, the beauty industry itself," Valdez said.
"It is a question of privilege, power, money, but also a question of need," said Valdez. "For a lot of these young women, it is easy to get involved with organized crime, in a country that doesn't offer many opportunities for young people."
Sometimes drug traffickers seek out beauty queens, but sometimes the models themselves look for narco boyfriends, Valdez said.
"I once wrote about a girl I knew of who was desperate to get a narco boyfriend," he said. "She practically took out a classified ad saying 'Looking for a Narco'."
The stories seldom end well. In the best of cases, a beautiful woman with a tear-stained face is marched before the press in handcuffs. In the worst of cases, they simply disappear.
"They are disposable objects, the lowest link in the chain of criminal organizations, the young men recruited as gunmen and the pretty young women who are tossed away in two or three years, or are turned into police or killed," Valdez said.
___
Associated Press Writer E. Eduardo Castillo contributed to this report
Dolly Parton on Gay Rumors, New Memoir
Dolly Parton on Gay Rumors, New Memoir - Country music titan Dolly Parton is anything but shy.
In an exclusive interview with "Nightline," Parton dished about her love life (including those rumors that she is secretly gay), losing a drag queen lookalike contest and building an entertainment empire estimated at half a billion dollars.
Watch the full story on "Nightline" tonight at 11:35 p.m. ET
In her long reign as a country music legend, Parton, now 66, has done it all. In her new motivational memoir, "Dream More," which will be released on Nov. 27, Parton talks about growing up dirt poor in Sevierville, Tenn., in a cabin with 11 siblings. She said she modeled her signature big, blonde hair and red-lipped, voluptuous-Dolly look after the town tramp.
"There was this woman, we won't call her names, but she was beautiful," she said. "I had never seen anybody, you know, with the yellow hair all piled up and the red lipstick and the rouge and the high heeled shoes, and I thought, 'This is what I want to look like.'"
Parton is refreshingly honest about things most entertainers guard ferociously, including rumors about her love life.
"I've... been accused of being involved with every man I'm ever seen with or worked with," she said. "Maybe I have, maybe I ain't. I never tell if I have. But you know people always saying that."
Parton has also been accused of being secretly gay and romantically involved with one of her oldest childhood friends, Judy Ogle. She denied the rumors said she even bonded with talk show queen Oprah Winfrey over the false tabloid claims. Parton has been married to her husband, Carl Dean, for 46 years.
"Like Gail, her friend, Judy, my friend, they just think that you just can't be that close to somebody," Parton said. "Judy and I have been best friends since we were like in the third and fourth grade… We still just have a great friendship and relationship and I love her as much as I love anybody in the whole world, but we're not romantically involved."
As a campy, vampy icon, Parton said she once entered a drag queen look-alike contest -- and lost. The other contestants didn't know they were going up against the real Dolly.
"They had a bunch of Chers and Dollys that year, so I just over-exaggerated -- made my beauty mark bigger, the eyes bigger, the hair bigger, everything," she said, laughing. "All these beautiful drag queens had worked for weeks and months getting their clothes. So I just got in the line and I just walked across, and they just thought I was some little short gay guy.. but I got the least applause."
Parton is a proud supporter of LGBT rights and even hosts "Gay Day" at her theme park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Parton said the event caught the attention of the Ku Klux Klan.
"When it first started there were people giving us threats, I still get threats," Parton said. "But like I said, I'm in business. I just don't feel like I have to explain myself. I love everybody."
Parton is also not shy about her numerous plastic surgery procedures, and said aging with her breast implants has been just fine.
"I haven't had to have that done in years, and my girls are going pretty good," she said.
Dolly Parton Tells All
Behind that va-va-voom body is a shrewd businesswoman. She starred in several iconic movies such as "9 to 5" and "Steel Magnolias." She has sold 100 million records and had numerous number-one singles. Her 1974 chart-topping hit, "I Will Always Love You," was later immortalized by Whitney Houston in the 1992 blockbuster film, "The Bodyguard."
"When they played it at her funeral and they lifted her coffin up, man, it was like somebody stabbed me in the heart with a knife," Parton said. "It just overwhelmed me."
Her songs are her legacy, but so too is the Imagination Library, Parton's literary program dedicated to her father who couldn't read or write.
"We've given out 40 million books since we've started, which is a lot of books for a lot of kids," she said.
Parton may help a lot of kids, but she and Dean never had children of their own.
"I often wonder, because he's tall and he's dark and I'm little and blonde and I just always wondered what our kids would have looked like had we had them," she said.
Parton said she doesn't have any regrets about not having children.
"God didn't let me have kids so everybody's kids could be mine," she said. "I can keep my nieces and nephews and then when I'm sick of them, I can say, 'Hey, come get these kids, they're driving me crazy.' I'm a Great Aunt Granny, is what they call me."
And Parton has no plans to slow down any time soon.
"I will never retire unless I have to," she said, laughing. "As long as I'm able to get up in the morning, get that makeup on and my high heels on, and even if I can't wear high heels, I'm going to do like Mae West, I'm going to sit in a wheelchair with my high heels on."
Watch the full story on "Nightline" tonight at 11:35 p.m. ET
In her long reign as a country music legend, Parton, now 66, has done it all. In her new motivational memoir, "Dream More," which will be released on Nov. 27, Parton talks about growing up dirt poor in Sevierville, Tenn., in a cabin with 11 siblings. She said she modeled her signature big, blonde hair and red-lipped, voluptuous-Dolly look after the town tramp.
"There was this woman, we won't call her names, but she was beautiful," she said. "I had never seen anybody, you know, with the yellow hair all piled up and the red lipstick and the rouge and the high heeled shoes, and I thought, 'This is what I want to look like.'"
Parton is refreshingly honest about things most entertainers guard ferociously, including rumors about her love life.
"I've... been accused of being involved with every man I'm ever seen with or worked with," she said. "Maybe I have, maybe I ain't. I never tell if I have. But you know people always saying that."
Parton has also been accused of being secretly gay and romantically involved with one of her oldest childhood friends, Judy Ogle. She denied the rumors said she even bonded with talk show queen Oprah Winfrey over the false tabloid claims. Parton has been married to her husband, Carl Dean, for 46 years.
"Like Gail, her friend, Judy, my friend, they just think that you just can't be that close to somebody," Parton said. "Judy and I have been best friends since we were like in the third and fourth grade… We still just have a great friendship and relationship and I love her as much as I love anybody in the whole world, but we're not romantically involved."
As a campy, vampy icon, Parton said she once entered a drag queen look-alike contest -- and lost. The other contestants didn't know they were going up against the real Dolly.
"They had a bunch of Chers and Dollys that year, so I just over-exaggerated -- made my beauty mark bigger, the eyes bigger, the hair bigger, everything," she said, laughing. "All these beautiful drag queens had worked for weeks and months getting their clothes. So I just got in the line and I just walked across, and they just thought I was some little short gay guy.. but I got the least applause."
Parton is a proud supporter of LGBT rights and even hosts "Gay Day" at her theme park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Parton said the event caught the attention of the Ku Klux Klan.
"When it first started there were people giving us threats, I still get threats," Parton said. "But like I said, I'm in business. I just don't feel like I have to explain myself. I love everybody."
Parton is also not shy about her numerous plastic surgery procedures, and said aging with her breast implants has been just fine.
"I haven't had to have that done in years, and my girls are going pretty good," she said.
Dolly Parton Tells All
Behind that va-va-voom body is a shrewd businesswoman. She starred in several iconic movies such as "9 to 5" and "Steel Magnolias." She has sold 100 million records and had numerous number-one singles. Her 1974 chart-topping hit, "I Will Always Love You," was later immortalized by Whitney Houston in the 1992 blockbuster film, "The Bodyguard."
"When they played it at her funeral and they lifted her coffin up, man, it was like somebody stabbed me in the heart with a knife," Parton said. "It just overwhelmed me."
Her songs are her legacy, but so too is the Imagination Library, Parton's literary program dedicated to her father who couldn't read or write.
"We've given out 40 million books since we've started, which is a lot of books for a lot of kids," she said.
Parton may help a lot of kids, but she and Dean never had children of their own.
"I often wonder, because he's tall and he's dark and I'm little and blonde and I just always wondered what our kids would have looked like had we had them," she said.
Parton said she doesn't have any regrets about not having children.
"God didn't let me have kids so everybody's kids could be mine," she said. "I can keep my nieces and nephews and then when I'm sick of them, I can say, 'Hey, come get these kids, they're driving me crazy.' I'm a Great Aunt Granny, is what they call me."
And Parton has no plans to slow down any time soon.
"I will never retire unless I have to," she said, laughing. "As long as I'm able to get up in the morning, get that makeup on and my high heels on, and even if I can't wear high heels, I'm going to do like Mae West, I'm going to sit in a wheelchair with my high heels on."
The Best Cyber Monday Deals For 2012
Cyber Monday, the first Monday after Thanksgiving, is one of the busiest online shopping days of the year, and 2012 will be no exception. Retailers are offering up major deals for online shoppers, some rivaling those offered on Black Friday. While many ads are being kept secret until the Black Friday madness is over, some retailers are giving consumers a sneak peek at their outstanding deals. Here is a look at some of the very best deals of Cyber Monday 2012, and how you can get your hands on the merchandise you want most.
Kmart
One retailer offering some seriously attractive deals this year for Cyber Monday is Kmart. Some of the amazing deals include 75% of all diamond earrings, footwear at buy one pair get the second pair half off and an artificial mixed-pine pre-lit Christmas tree with 500 lights at 50% off the original price. Other great deals include 50% off select outdoor Christmas decorations, a 19-inch LED Proscan TV/DVD set for just $119 and a 12-in-1 game table for $89, which equals $60 in savings. With deals like these, Kmart is sure to be busy this Cyber Monday. Its sale begins on Nov. 25, 2012 at midnight and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 27, 2012.
Best Buy
Best Buy is also offering up some decent deals for Cyber Monday. From now until Jan. 2, 2013, Best Buy will be offering free shipping on everything on its website and requires no minimum purchase limit. This is sure to be a huge draw on Cyber Monday with so many consumers making purchases over the Internet. Best Buy is also giving consumers a $20 Best Buy gift card with the purchase of a computer and qualifying printer.
Guess
While big box stores such as Kmart and Best Buy are expected to have great deals on Cyber Monday, there are plenty of fashion retailers offering impressive sales as well. One such retailer is Guess. According to refinery29.com, Guess is offering 30% off of its merchandise on Cyber Monday, and select products are discounted up to 50% off. Guess could be a big draw this Cyber Monday for fashion-conscious shoppers looking to get their holiday shopping done early.
Amazon
Amazon will be a huge draw on Cyber Monday, and it has begun giving some of its subscribers a peek of what items will be going on sale for its big sale. Some of the highly attractive offers include a Samsung 32-inch 720p HDTV for just $247.99, a Canon PowerShot A1300 16 megapixel digital camera for $120.96 and a Samsung 11.6-inch Chromebook for $249.
Other great offers that will be sure to appeal to parents of young children include the highly popular LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer Learning Tablet for just $59.99, which is 40% off the original cost, and the Crayola Light Designer for $39.95. Which offers like these, Amazon is going to be very busy on Monday.
The Bottom Line
Cyber Monday is projected to be a very busy and productive day for many major retailers. While many big box stores are keeping their Cyber Monday deals a secret for now, they won't be able to contain their ads much longer. Stores to keep an eye out for, other than those identified here, include Walmart, Target and HH Gregg. When it comes to Cyber Monday savings, you will want to peruse the ads as soon as they are released, and act fast before items are sold out.
Large Mars Dust Storm is Brewing
Washington, November 26 (ANI): A NASA spacecraft has been tracking a vast dust storm on Mars that has spawned changes in the Martian atmosphere felt by two rovers on the planet's surface.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) first spotted the Martian dust storm on Nov. 10 and has been tracking ever since.
According to NASA officials, the agency's Mars rover Opportunity has seen a slight drop in atmospheric clarity due to the storm, while the newer Curiosity rover-which has a built-in weather station-has seen a drop in air pressure and slightly increased nighttime temperatures halfway around the planet from Opportunity, Discovery News reported.
"This is now a regional dust storm. It has covered a fairly extensive region with its dust haze and it is in a part of the planet were some regional storms have grown into global dust hazes," the channel quoted Rich Zurek, NASA's chief Mars scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., as saying in a statement Wednesday.
NASA is combining observations by the Curiosity rover and MRO to create a complete picture of the Martian dust storm. The Spain-built Rover Environmental Monitoring Station on Curiosity gives scientists a real-time look at conditions over the rover's position inside Gale Crater.
The Mars Color Imager on MRO was built by Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. It was Malin's Bruce Cantor who first spotted the storm in photos from the powerful Mars camera on Nov. 10.
"For the first time since the Viking missions of the 1970s, we are studying a regional dust storm both from orbit and with a weather station on the surface," Zurek said.
Because the dust from the current storm is absorbing sunlight instead of reflecting it, a warming effect 16 miles (25 kilometers) above the Martian tempest has been seen by MRO. The effect, first recorded by MRO's Mars Climate Sounder on Nov. 16, has led to a temperature increase of 45 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius) so far.
Warmer temperatures are not confined to the Martian south. The circulation of the Martian atmosphere has also led to a hot spot in the planet's northern polar regions. The temperature on Mars is typically about minus 80 degrees F (minus 60 degrees C), but can vary depending on location and the Martian season.
Regional dust storms on Mars were observed in 2001 and 2007, but not between those years or in the time since. The Martian year lasts two Earth years, with major dust storm events following a seasonal pattern.
Dust storm season on Mars began a few weeks ago as the Martian spring began in the planet's southern hemisphere, NASA officials said.
"One thing we want to learn is why do some Martian dust storm get to this size and stop growing, while others this size keep growing and go global," Zurek said.
A global dust storm on Mars could have implications for the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers. If the current dust storm were to expand to cover the Red Planet, the dust settling on Opportunity's solar panels could reduce the rover's power supply.
NASA's newer Mars rover Curiosity, meanwhile, would likely see increased haze in its photos of nearby terrain, as well as an above normal air temperature. (ANI)
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) first spotted the Martian dust storm on Nov. 10 and has been tracking ever since.
According to NASA officials, the agency's Mars rover Opportunity has seen a slight drop in atmospheric clarity due to the storm, while the newer Curiosity rover-which has a built-in weather station-has seen a drop in air pressure and slightly increased nighttime temperatures halfway around the planet from Opportunity, Discovery News reported.
"This is now a regional dust storm. It has covered a fairly extensive region with its dust haze and it is in a part of the planet were some regional storms have grown into global dust hazes," the channel quoted Rich Zurek, NASA's chief Mars scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., as saying in a statement Wednesday.
NASA is combining observations by the Curiosity rover and MRO to create a complete picture of the Martian dust storm. The Spain-built Rover Environmental Monitoring Station on Curiosity gives scientists a real-time look at conditions over the rover's position inside Gale Crater.
The Mars Color Imager on MRO was built by Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. It was Malin's Bruce Cantor who first spotted the storm in photos from the powerful Mars camera on Nov. 10.
"For the first time since the Viking missions of the 1970s, we are studying a regional dust storm both from orbit and with a weather station on the surface," Zurek said.
Because the dust from the current storm is absorbing sunlight instead of reflecting it, a warming effect 16 miles (25 kilometers) above the Martian tempest has been seen by MRO. The effect, first recorded by MRO's Mars Climate Sounder on Nov. 16, has led to a temperature increase of 45 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius) so far.
Warmer temperatures are not confined to the Martian south. The circulation of the Martian atmosphere has also led to a hot spot in the planet's northern polar regions. The temperature on Mars is typically about minus 80 degrees F (minus 60 degrees C), but can vary depending on location and the Martian season.
Regional dust storms on Mars were observed in 2001 and 2007, but not between those years or in the time since. The Martian year lasts two Earth years, with major dust storm events following a seasonal pattern.
Dust storm season on Mars began a few weeks ago as the Martian spring began in the planet's southern hemisphere, NASA officials said.
"One thing we want to learn is why do some Martian dust storm get to this size and stop growing, while others this size keep growing and go global," Zurek said.
A global dust storm on Mars could have implications for the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers. If the current dust storm were to expand to cover the Red Planet, the dust settling on Opportunity's solar panels could reduce the rover's power supply.
NASA's newer Mars rover Curiosity, meanwhile, would likely see increased haze in its photos of nearby terrain, as well as an above normal air temperature. (ANI)
Luke Donald Preparing for Surgery on Sinuses
Luke Donald Preparing for Surgery on Sinuses - DUBAI, Nov 26 (Reuters) - World number two Luke Donald is planning to have an operation in the off-season in an attempt to cure a lingering problem with his sinuses.
"My sinuses are all completely clogged up and every time I get a little bit run down they turn into infections," the 34-year-old Briton told reporters after finishing in a tie for third place at the DP World Tour Championship on Sunday.
"Hopefully the surgery will fix it. It's a pretty quick and easy operation."
Donald said he was affected by the problem over the last two rounds in Dubai, the final event of the European Tour season.
The former world number one wanted to make it clear, however, that his disappointing one-under-par final round of 71 should not be blamed on his physical ailments.
"I don't like to make excuses but the last couple of days I've had the sinus issue again," added Donald. "I felt a little bit flat and unfortunately I couldn't get things going on Sunday."
The Chicago-based Englishman went into the last 18 holes sharing the lead with Ryder Cup team mate Rory McIlroy.
Donald went a remarkable 102 holes without carding a bogey in the Dubai tournament, this year and in 2011, but a dropped stroke at the third on Sunday ended that sequence and put him on the back foot for the rest of the round.
He finished five strokes adrift of world number one and tournament winner McIlroy, who birdied each of the closing five holes to shoot a six-under 66. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)
"My sinuses are all completely clogged up and every time I get a little bit run down they turn into infections," the 34-year-old Briton told reporters after finishing in a tie for third place at the DP World Tour Championship on Sunday.
"Hopefully the surgery will fix it. It's a pretty quick and easy operation."
Donald said he was affected by the problem over the last two rounds in Dubai, the final event of the European Tour season.
The former world number one wanted to make it clear, however, that his disappointing one-under-par final round of 71 should not be blamed on his physical ailments.
"I don't like to make excuses but the last couple of days I've had the sinus issue again," added Donald. "I felt a little bit flat and unfortunately I couldn't get things going on Sunday."
The Chicago-based Englishman went into the last 18 holes sharing the lead with Ryder Cup team mate Rory McIlroy.
Donald went a remarkable 102 holes without carding a bogey in the Dubai tournament, this year and in 2011, but a dropped stroke at the third on Sunday ended that sequence and put him on the back foot for the rest of the round.
He finished five strokes adrift of world number one and tournament winner McIlroy, who birdied each of the closing five holes to shoot a six-under 66. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Nose Surgery for Luke Donald
Luke Donald is to have surgery to cure a long-standing problem with his sinuses.
The world number two admits he is suffering with his nose at present and claims it affected him again during the final two rounds in Dubai over the weekend when he finished in a tie-for-third at the World Tour Championship.The Chicago-based Englishman had started Sunday holding a share of the lead with Rory McIlroy, who went on to win the tournament with a five-shot advantage over Donald.
The 34-year-old said: "My sinuses are all completely clogged up and every time I get a little bit run down they turn into infections.
"Hopefully, the surgery will fix it. It's a pretty quick and easy operation.
"I don't like to make excuses but the last couple of days I've had the sinus issue again.
"I felt a little bit flat and unfortunately I couldn't get things going on Sunday."
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