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Europe's Disintegration and Decline

Dr. Bruce S. Thornton is a professor of Classics and humanities at California State University in Fresno. He is also a well-known conservative commentator and the author of the recently released Decline and Fall: Europe's Slow-Motion Suicide. His essays and articles have appeared at numerous venues over the years including Frontpagemag.com, Intercollegiate Review, National Review Online, The San Francisco Examiner, California Republic, Religious Studies Review, The Washington Times, Los Angeles Times, and the American Journal of Philology. Dr. Thornton published several works before Decline and Fall such as Plagues of the Mind: The New Epidemic of False Knowledge, Greek Ways: How the Greeks Created Western Civilization, Searching for Joaquin: Myth and History in California, and A Student's Guide to Classics.

O2 BARS SET FRENCH OFFICIALS SNIFFING

PARIS, Feb 13, 2008 (AFP) - As oxygen bars begin to pop up across France, health authorities are beginning to question the merits or otherwise of sniffing O2.
Supposed to improve health and well-being, oxygen bars date back to the late 1990s, spreading from Canada to California and to Britain and Japan, in nightclubs, health clubs, airports or even trade fairs.
But Paris' first oxygen bar opened only last week.
Flagged as "a revolutionary anti-fatigue, anti-stress and anti-depression concept", the city's maiden O2 bar is housed in an up-market beauty institute owned by no less than the wife of top French publicist and political "kingmaker" Jacques Seguela.
Seguela has been very much in the news recently for bringing together President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new wife Carla Bruni around a dinner table, a coup that comes almost three decades after helping propel leftwing leader Francois Mitterrand to the country's highest public office.

Another push from a Bush

Indiana has more money than any athletic department in the country and it's afraid of spending a couple million dollars to rid itself of perpetual phone caller Kelvin Sampson. The only price to be paid now is Indiana players hearing opposing pep bands playing the Blondie classic "Call Me" from now until the end of the season

Editorial: Casting ideas for better count of votes next time

Ten days after the Feb. 5 presidential primary, nearly 1 million votes - about 14 percent of those cast in California - were uncounted. Because Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain won their parties' primaries by large margins, there's been no crisis and no outcry.

But it could be another matter entirely in November, when an especially long ballot is expected to further delay vote counting. Many counties like Santa Clara probably won't be able to announce conclusive results for 15 to 18 hours after the polls close. It will be weeks before the totals are final - shades of Florida in 2000.

By law, the state has a month after an election to certify results. But Secretary of State Debra Bowen must do all within her power and the state budget to cut the wait.

The cause of this month's delays was twofold: the forced conversion in two dozen counties from electronic voting to paper ballots, and a substantial increase in voting by mail.

LA faces meltdown as Hollywood strike bites

People are out of work, the local economy is suffering and the biggest blow to both revenue and prestige could be yet to come - the cancellation of the Oscars.

The writers' union that is leading the strike told The Observer it would not back down even if it meant that the Academy Awards would suffer the same fate as the Globes. The cost to the city would be $130m (£66m), according to the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp, with tens of millions more wiped off advertising revenues.

Usually one of the most glamorous events in the showbusiness calendar, tonight's Globes at the Beverly Hills Hotel will be reduced to no more than a one-hour press conference in which the winners' names will be read out. The losses incurred by caterers, hairdressers, hotels, jewellers, limousine firms, party planners, stylists and other support workers are estimated at $70-80m.