Politics

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) is not only a force in politics but also in music, apparently.Bob Ryan, a local weatherman with the ABC-affiliate station in Washington, D.C., was surprised with a special musical message from Mikulski before his recent retirement.More...

For those of us of a certain age, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella is a nostalgia trip. The memory of this musical, a television landmark in the '50's lingers as a singular pleasure. My fear in bringing young people, Noah (8) and Hannah (6), to a recent matinee was my losing composure and singing loudly along to "Impossible," "In My Own Little Corner," "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?" Another concern: would it be as good for them as it was for me? To date, critics and awarders seem in thrall. Even though this is a Broadway debut, the musical has 6 Tony nominations as well as nods for other major awards, as a musical revival.Nominated for his book of a musical, Douglas Carter Beane tweaked the story we know and love. It now contains many surprises, including a social consciousness--imagine kindness as a political strategy-- and oh, that bling slipper purposely left behind. Children know the Disney animated version, and liked this show's witty variations. The tale opens in the woods with Prince Topher (Santino Fontana) slaying a tree-like monster. In declaring victory, he puts his foot on its trunk and exclaims, I have got to find a better way to spend my life, which had Noah howling, I love this play. His vocal critique may have been echoed in Hannah's eyes, glued as she watched Laura Osnes' Cinderella, a delicate voiced beauty who morphs magically from scullery maid to mysterious belle right before your eyes. Yes, the forest is enchanting, but attention must be paid to the trees.More...

Dear Anouchka,I've never written you a letter before, although I have written you a lot of postcards. You still have a box of them somewhere, I think, dated from your fourth year -- a birthday I missed, as I recall, as I missed so many of your birthdays.More...

OTTAWA - Federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair says he was contacted by police in 2011 because of an alleged bribe offered many years earlier by a now-controversial mayor.Mulcair says he didn't go to police after that 1994 meeting with Laval's then-mayor Gilles Vaillancourt because there was no evidence.Mulcair, who was then a political rookie seeking office for the first time, says he never actually had proof he was being offered cash by Vaillancourt.He says Vaillancourt simply offered him an envelope.He says he refused the envelope, cut short the meeting, and kept his distance from the powerful mayor of Laval.Media have posted a statement given by Mulcair in July 2011 to police in which he says Vaillancourt repeatedly told him he wanted to help him, while holding up an envelope in his hand.The statement quotes Mulcair as saying he discussed the meeting with fellow Liberal Vincent Auclair, whom Vaillancourt also allegedly offered an envelope.Vaillancourt was arrested on May 9 and faces several corruption-related charges, including gangsterism. He has pleaded guilty to the charges and denied offering bribes to other politicians.One of those alleged targets was Serge Menard, a former federal and provincial MP with the Bloc Quebecois and Parti Quebecois. Menard was allegedly offered $10,000 cash by the mayor in 1993.Like Mulcair, he was a rookie provincial politician on the verge of winning his first election. And like Mulcair, he says he refused the money, then decided to remain publicly silent about the incident.Menard, a lawyer, is quoted in a Montreal La Presse report saying that what happened two decades ago is not technically illegal — because corruption laws apply to civil servants, ministers and legislators.He told the newspaper that the relevant Criminal Code articles don't make any reference to exchanges that involve regular citizens running as candidates for office — which is what he and Mulcair were at the time of Vaillancourt's alleged offer.More...

Receta por la chef Ingrid Hoffmann, de su libro "LATIN D’LITE: Deliciosas recetas Latinas con un Toque Saludable" (disponible en inglés y en español)Rinde de 4 a 6 porcionesMore...

Want a pizza? How about a printed one?As long as you don't mind the "protein layer" (a.k.a the cheese) coming from potentially dubious sources (like insects), you might be in luck. Mechanical engineer Anjan Contractor and his company Systems & Materials Research Corporation have just received a $125,000 grant from NASA to create a "universal food synthesizer" for 3-D-printed food, Quartz reports.More...

Before Paul Wesley was sucking blood and taking names as Stefan Salvatore "The Vampire Diaries" and before Benjamin McKenzie was kicking ass with the LAPD as Ben Sherman on "Southland" (R.I.P.), the two were wrecking havoc on "The O.C.," bitch.The former co-stars reunited at a screening of "Behind the Candelabra," looking very dapper. Wesley tweeted his excitement and a photo.More...

Got a passion for the environment? Put your money where your heart is and get away with your new spouse to a romantic destination where the preserving the natural surroundings is the top priority. Fortunately we live in an age where a green honeymoon can bring you back to nature without sacrificing the creature comforts of a modern resort. These four properties prove there's something enduringly romantic about the great outdoors:Luxury Safari More...

The eight candidates approved Tuesday for Iran's June 14 presidential election to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who cannot run again because of term limits.Captions by the Associated PressMore...

On a typical day, Oklahoma Shelters fields about 50 to 75 phone calls from customers inquiring about having a safe room or underground shelter installed on their property. But after a devastating tornado tore through Moore, Okla., on Monday, around 600 people contacted the company on Tuesday.Most people are not calling from areas that were directly hit by the tornado, said Jason Avery, a salesman who has been with the company for seven years. Rather, he said, "most are calling from areas that just got missed."More...