| Hail Otto! Near 21 he’s now world’s oldest dog

Hail,-Otto!-Near-21,-he’s-now-world’s-oldest-dog This old dog may not be learning any new tricks, but he now holds the title as the world’s longest-lived pooch.

Otto, a dachshund-terrier mix, is 20 years and 8 months old — that’s about 145 in dog years, his owners estimate — and he is being recognized for his great age by Guinness World Records.

Lynn Jones, 53, of Shrewsbury, England, has owned Otto since he was six weeks old. She and her husband, Peter, contacted Guinness after the previous record-holder, Chanel — also a dachshund mix — recently died at age 21.

So what’s Otto’s secret for longevity? Love, good food and regular trips to the vet, the couple say. Still, the pet now suffers from arthritis and is no longer as active as he was in his younger days.

“He doesn’t really like walkies any more,” Lynn told the UK Daily Mail. “He gets about 10 yards down the road and then looks back over his shoulder as if to say, ‘I want to go home.’ “

But what Otto lacks in physical ability, he still retains in spirit.

“He’s still playful,” she said. “He can still jump all over people when they come ‘round.”

- | Hail Otto! Near 21 he’s now world’s oldest dog |

| UN: For 7th year warming emissions grew again

UN:-For-7th-year,-warming-emissions-grew-again

BONN, Germany – The industrialized world again in 2007 boosted, rather than reduced, its emissions of global-warming gases, the U.N. reported Wednesday, as international negotiators looked ahead to crucial climate talks in December.

Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases rose by 1 percent between 2006 and 2007 among 40 nations classified as industrialized under the 1992 U.N. climate treaty, the treaty secretariat reported, detailing data for the latest available reporting period.

It was the seventh consecutive year of an upward trend, it said.

European Union countries did cut their emissions year-to-year, by an average of 1.6 percent, led by Denmarks 6.1 percent reduction. But the United States, the biggest emitter in this group, increased its emissions by 1.4 percent, and the output of heat-trapping gases by Japan, Canada and Australia also rose, the data show.

Scientists attribute a 0.74-degree Celsius rise in global temperatures in the past century in part to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The warming will severely disrupt the climate, they say, unless emissions are cut back sharply, by at least 80 percent by 2050.

Under the climate treatys 1997 Kyoto Protocol, 37 industrialized nations are committed to reduce emissions by an average 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The United States was the only major industrialized nation to reject Kyoto, arguing such cuts would harm its economy, and that fast-growing economies, such as Chinas, should have been subject to Kyoto quotas.

President Barack Obama, reversing his predecessor George W. Bushs position, says the United States wants to join in a new post-2012 global agreement to rein in emissions, but in exchange U.S. negotiators seek some level of commitment from China, India, Brazil and other poorer nations. Developing countries complain, meanwhile, that emissions reductions envisioned in pending U.S. legislation are too weak.

The dispute threatens to block final agreement at the U.N. climate conference scheduled for Dec. 7-20 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In releasing the emissions data, U.S. climate treaty chief Yvo de Boer said the numbers underscore, once again, the urgent need to seal a comprehensive, fair and effective climate change deal in Copenhagen.

In the Kyoto framework, overall emissions by the 37 ratifying nations in 2007 were 16 percent below the level of 1990 — seemingly good progress, except that the reductions came largely from the industrial slowdown that occurred in Eastern Europe in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet bloc. Those countries emissions grew between 2000 and 2007.

Next years report on 2008 emissions is expected to show a momentary dip because of the global recession, de Boer noted, but overall the continuing growth of emissions from industrialized countries remains worrying.

China and other developing countries dont report emissions to the treaty secretariat. But the International Energy Agency says Chinese output of carbon dioxide grew by 7.6 percent from 2006 to 2007, as it surpassed the U.S. as the worlds biggest emitter. Compared with population, China emitted 4.57 tons of carbon dioxide per capita, while the U.S. emitted 19.10 tons per capita.

___

On the Net:

http://unfccc.int/files/press/factsheets/application/pdf/ghgfactsheet2009.pdf

- | UN: For 7th year warming emissions grew again |

| Fifteen Iran Guards among killed in Sunday attack

Fifteen-Iran-Guards-among-killed-in-Sunday-attack

TEHRAN –
Fifteen members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were among those killed in Sunday's suicide bombing in the Islamic Republic's volatile southeast, state radio reported on Tuesday.

Iranian media had previously said six senior Guards commanders were among the 42 people killed in the deadliest such attack in Iran since its 1980-88 war with Iraq, without saying how many other Guards died. Tribal chiefs and other civilians also died in the bombing.

"The number of Revolutionary Guards martyred ... in the terrorist incident in Sistan-Baluchestan province is fifteen," state radio said. It said the Guards would hold a ceremony in Tehran later on Tuesday to bid farewell to them.

The deputy head of the Guards' ground forces, General Nourali Shoushtari, and its commander in Sistan-Baluchestan province, General Rajabali Mohammadzadeh, were among the dead.

Iranian media say a Sunni rebel group, Jundollah , has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Iran, mainly Shi'ite Muslim, says the group is backed by the United States and Britain and has suggested it has links with majority Sunni Pakistan. London, Washington and Islamabad have denied involvement.

The attack highlighted deepening instability in a southeastern region bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many minority Sunnis live in the impoverished area, which has seen an increase in bombings and clashes between security forces, ethnic Baluch Sunni insurgents and heavily armed drug traffickers.

Iranian police chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam said Sunday's incident was mainly of "foreign origin" and showed traces of Western intelligence organizations, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

"There will have to be special security plans implemented in Sistan-Baluchestan, and neighboring countries will have to feel responsible. Together we will have to take a decision to confront rebels, terrorists and smugglers," he said.

The Revolutionary Guards is an elite force seen as fiercely loyal to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It handles security in key border areas and its power and resources have increased in recent years.

Jundollah, which accuses the government of discrimination against Sunnis in the remote desert region, has been blamed for many deadly incidents over the last few years.

The group claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Shi'ite mosque in May that killed 25 people in the same region, and says it is fighting for the rights of Iran's minority Sunnis.

Iran rejects allegations by Western rights groups that it discriminates against ethnic and religious minorities.

- | Fifteen Iran Guards among killed in Sunday attack |

| Chef LaLa’s double-duty baby meatballs

Chef-LaLa’s-double-duty-baby-meatballs Want to teach your children the art of healthy cooking and delicious meals? Chef LaLa shares kid-friendly ethnic recipes that can also be transformed into a new dish for tasty leftovers or a second option.

Baby veggie-meatball soupChef LaLa - | Chef LaLa’s double-duty baby meatballs |

| Cleric in CIA kidnap case seeks $15 million

Cleric-in-CIA-kidnap-case-seeks-$15-million MILAN - An Egyptian cleric allegedly kidnapped from a Milan street in 2003 as part of the CIAs extraordinary rendition program on Wednesday asked for 10 million euros in damages from the American and Italian defendants charged in his abduction.

Carmelo Scambia, lawyer for Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, said his client has been left deaf in one ear and suffering problems with balance and walking. Emotionally, Scambia said, Nasrs behavior is childlike, anxious and terrorized.

Scambia appealed to Judge Oscar Magi to award the damages to send a signal to Nasr and his wife that reality exists, that principles exist. Magi is hearing the case against 26 Americans and seven Italians accused of Nasrs abduction.

Prosecutors say Nasr was taken in broad daylight from a Milan street on Feb. 17, 2003, transferred in the back of a van to the Avian Air Base in northern Italy, then flown to the Ramstein Air Base in southern Germany before being flown onward to Egypt.

During the nearly four years Nasr was in Egyptian custody, Scambia said his client suffered unimaginable torture including rape, electric shock and repeated beatings.

Before his abduction, Nasr was under surveillance as a terror suspect by Italian authorities, but Scambia emphasized that no arrest warrant had been issued at the time of his disappearance.

He was not a terrorist. He enjoyed political asylum. And most of all, he was a human being, Scambia told the court.

Scambia asked the judge to find the defendants guilty and award 5 million euros immediately upon sentencing. The balance would be awarded pending final appeals, which can last for years.

International arrest warrants
A lawyer for Nasrs wife, Ghali Nabila, also is seeking 5 million euros for her suffering during years of not knowing her husbands whereabouts and for the deterioration of her husbands physical and mental health. Nabila did not know her husbands fate for more than a year after his abduction. He contacted her in April 2004 during a brief release from Egyptian custody, before being put back in prison until his eventual release in February 2007.

Twenty-six Americans, all but one believed to be CIA agents, are on trial in absentia, accused of kidnapping Nasr as part of the CIA program. All are considered fugitives, and have international arrest warrants issued against them. Seven Italians also are charged.

Human rights advocates say renditions were the CIAs way of outsourcing the torture of suspected terrorists to countries where it was practiced. The CIA hasnt commented on the case, the first in any country to scrutinize extraordinary renditions.

Prosecutors have demanded prison sentences ranging from 10 to 13 years for the American defendants. The trial continues with closing arguments by the defense, and a verdict is expected next month.

More on: CIA | Italy

- | Cleric in CIA kidnap case seeks $15 million |

| Kind of Blue at 50: Behind Davis masterpiece

`Kind-of-Blue-at-50:-Behind-Davis-masterpiece

NEW YORK – Jimmy Cobb could hardly imagine he would be making history when he arrived at Columbia Records 30th Street Studio 50 years ago for the first of two recording sessions with Miles Davis.

I was always enthusiastic about making records with Miles, said Cobb, who got to the studio before the other musicians to set up his drum kit. I wasnt told anything about what the music was going to be.

Cobb ended up being part of the all-star sextet, plus one, that recorded Kind of Blue, an album Quincy Jones consider to be one of the greatest records ever made.

Since its August 1959 release, Kind of Blue has ranked as one of the most influential and popular jazz albums ever with more than 4 million copies sold in the U.S. alone, according to the Recording Industry Association of America — and has recently been reissued in deluxe box sets to mark its 50th anniversary.

But in 1959, Cobb — the last surviving musician in a group that included saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian Cannonball Adderley, pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, and bassist Paul Chambers — regarded it as just another Miles Davis record date.

It was relaxed and the guys always had fun around each other, said Cobb. It had to be the talent, the music, the studio ... I dont know how that magic happens but it happened those two days.

Jones, who as a young trumpeter in the 50s was heavily influenced by his close friend Davis, considers Kind of Blue a culmination of a golden era in jazz that began in the late 40s with the bebop revolution launched by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. At the same time, the album foretold the new sounds that would emerge in the 60s.

Its a record that sounds like it was made yesterday. Its as hip as anything on the planet, said Jones. Its the accumulation of everything that ... modern jazz is about.

I have given away hundreds of copies to kids all over the world and said, `I want you to treat this like orange juice, listening to it every morning.

The original album has had a huge impact that extended beyond jazz to other genres — from rock musicians such as the Allman Brothers and Carlos Santana to minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass.

Miles genius was that he was able to keep the quality of the creativity very high and at the same time make a work of art that communicated broadly, said pianist Chick Corea.

Cobb says the musicians struck a groove on the first track they recorded, Freddie Freeloader, a jaunty blues number that was the only tune to feature the more upbeat pianist Kelly.

Then with the introspective Evans at the piano, the sextet recorded So What, which would become the albums opener, starting with an ethereal bass-and-piano prelude. Cobb hit a cymbal crash just as Davis began his solo, and waited for the trumpeter to call for another take.

I thought I had made a mistake and had hit the cymbal too hard ... but it worked out because it resonated and got smaller and smaller.

Davis kept the tape rolling, and launched into one of the most memorable solos in jazz history — lyrical and restrained, using space to build drama, with his trumpet having a heartbreaking quality.

I always loved Miles trumpet because it sounded soulful. He could get into you with his beautiful, pure sound, said the 80-year-old Cobb, interviewed over lunch at a restaurant on Manhattans Upper West Side.

He was trying to create a mood and he did that. ... I heard a lot of people say that probably a lot of babies were made off of that music playing in the background.

Today, the five tunes on Kind of Blue — particularly So What and All Blues — have become deeply embedded in the musical landscape. But at the March 2 and April 22, 1959, recording sessions, nearly all the tunes were new to the band members, who didnt even have a chance to rehearse them. Davis gave the musicians written sketches of the scales and melodies, offering brief verbal instructions about the feeling he wanted on a particular tune.

Davis was moving away from bebop with its complex harmonies and improvisations structured around chord changes. The trumpeter asked his musicians to play in a modal style — a concept developed by pianist-composer George Russell — in which the musicians improvised on scales, with the soloists having more freedom to explore long melodic lines.

Though Davis took credit for all the tunes on Kind of Blue, its now acknowledged that Evans had a significant role in sketching out the ballad Blue in Green and the most distinctly modal composition, Flamenco Sketches.

Corea says that personality-wise they were opposites. Miles was the cool hipster with his designer suits, Italian sports cars and glamorous women; the withdrawn and bespectacled Evans had the rumpled look of a nerdy college professor. But both shared a passion for modern classical composers, a penchant for introspective spacious music with an emphasis on lyricism, and a willingness to experiment.

Miles could see that there was something new that he could do with this guy who was making new sounds on the piano, said Corea, who a decade after Kind of Blue played in Davis band that recorded the groundbreaking electric jazz-rock fusion album Bitches Brew. He inspired Miles to another level.

Miles always had this wonderful characteristic of gravitating toward a creative musician and then having the intelligence to know how to utilize that musician within his own sphere without cramping the guys style.

That held true for the other musicians who would soon make their own distinctive mark on the jazz scene. Adderley, the jovial, earthy alto saxophonist, would create his own brand of soul jazz. The spiritually searching tenor saxophonist Coltrane was just weeks away from recording his breakthrough album, Giant Steps, with its complex chord progressions and sheets of sound, that would set him on a course of bold experimentation. Cobb and Chambers, both of whom played on Giant Steps, formed one of the most in-demand rhythm sections with pianist Kelly.

But it wasnt the musicians alone who shaped the albums mood. Columbias studio in a cavernous abandoned Greek Orthodox church with wood paneling enabled a pure acoustic sound. Cobb said sound engineer Fred Plaut knew exactly where to place each instrument and microphone to capture the slightest nuances.

Theres a lot of great performances in jazz, but the sound may not be that great, said trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. This is a really good sounding recording. Its simple and its complex.

After the second recording session, Cobb says the musicians felt they had succeeded in doing what Miles wanted to do, but nobody had any inkling of the albums enduring legacy.

Davis, who always insisted that he didnt want to look back, never tried to capture the albums mood when hed perform So What and All Blues with his second great quintet of the mid-60s that included pianist Herbie Hancock and saxophonist Wayne Shorter.

Wed play them three times as fast, said bassist Ron Carter, who joined Davis band in 1963. I was always asking Miles why is this so fast tonight, what happened to the medium tempo from the record. He would say to me, `I just hear it faster now.

By the end of the 60s, Davis had stopped playing any Kind of Blue tunes. But the music continues to be covered not only by former Davis sidemen like Hancock and Carter, but numerous other jazz musicians. Cobb is marking the 50th anniversary by performing the complete album on tour with his So What Band, including trumpeter Wallace Roney, whom Davis selected to perform with him at a 1991 concert in Montreux, Switzerland, two months before his death.

Trumpeter Chris Botti says he was drawn to Kind of Blue as a high school student in Oregon in the 70s, and features Flamenco Sketches in his repertoire, including it on his latest CD/DVD, In Boston.

Its a jazz song but the chords are just so open ... and its incredibly satisfying to play, said Botti.

Jazz musicians are never known for their restraint and this record is perfect in its restraint. I believe this record is more of a pop album than a jazz album. ... Miles didnt have a hit song, he had a hit mood.

___

On the Net:

http://www.milesdavis.com

http://www.jimmycobb.net

- | Kind of Blue at 50: Behind Davis masterpiece |

| Throw a Labor Day party with leftovers

Throw-a-Labor-Day-party-with-leftovers Have your seasonal summer decorations taken over your house? Why not plan a party this Labor Day that gives you an extra kick to get rid of your leftovers?

Time to clear out your pantry, your closet and your summer storage. Use this last summer hurrah to finish off the Fourth of July decor, your beach items, and invite friends and neighbors over for an outdoor, potluck, family-style celebration.

I’ve created a fun mishmash I’m calling “red, beach and blue” since it uses my leftover summer items. Here are some tips.

Leftover decor
When you are having a family-style potluck and you are incorporating a theme, the best advice is to keep everything looking uniform. So suggest to guests that they bring their items in glass or white bowls so the dishes don’t conflict with your color scheme.

For your outdoor dining table, use an oversize beach towel as a runner or as a festive throw. I’m using a red striped towel from my leftover Fourth of July stash. Mini bamboo torches anchor each end of the table and can keep the mosquitoes away.Next, create a functional centerpiece. Use a trifle bowl or punch bowl filled white sangria. This also works with a colorful, chopped garden vegetable salad, too.

Sand pails aren’t just for sand at this outdoor barbecue. You can use them to hold hand sanitizing wipes. I find when you have kids running around you can’t have enough wet wipes to clean their sticky hands.

Small metal pails can be used to hold your old citronella candles. Maybe you have a few leftover pails that were favors at past weddings. You can also decorate votive holders with shells to create an “oh, wow” factor at the party.

Do you have a collector in your house? Maybe someone who goes to the beach and collects shells, sea glass, various found objects? Well, if you are feeling artsy, you can take these objects and create beautiful leftover decor such as these sea glass orbs. Large seashells can also be used as place cards or to identify the food for a family-style dinner.

Keep your place settings simple. This is a great time to finish up all of your disposable red and blue plates, cups and utensils at this sit-down bash.

Got to feed the people!
Barbecue sauce is easier to make than you might think, and most of us have all of the basic ingredients in our pantry. You can personalize it with your own touches if you like it hot or sweet. Just throw the ingredients into a blender.

Homemade barbecue sauceCathy Riva - | Throw a Labor Day party with leftovers |

| Disney offers free entry to 1 million volunteers

Disney-offers-free-entry-to-1-million-volunteers NEW YORK - Disney is offering a free days admission to 1 million guests who complete a day of volunteer work next year.

The Give a Day, Get a Disney Day program will provide certified volunteers with a one-day ticket to any park at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., or Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., in 2010.

Would-be volunteers must register online with Disney and must be residents of the U.S., Canada or Puerto Rico to be eligible for the free admission.

Disney is partnering with HandsOn Network, a clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities, to connect people with projects and to certify that the work was done.

We are trying to inspire 1 million people to volunteer in their communities and were inspiring them to do that by giving them a free day at a Disney park, Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

Rasulo called the promotion very timely, citing the increased needs of nonprofits in the weak economy, as well as President Barack Obamas national volunteering initiative.

Duncan Dickson, who teaches theme park management at the University of Central Floridas Rosen School of Hospitality Management in Orlando, said the volunteer initiative is a smart marketing move.

Dickson said Disney will get good buzz for encouraging volunteerism plus free publicity from the nonprofits that benefit. And even when theme parks let people in for free, they make their money back in other ways, Dickson said.

You make a lot of money in popcorn and T-shirts and other things, Dickson said.

- | Disney offers free entry to 1 million volunteers |