NBey6's Blog

"To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it."

- Confucius -

Ivanovic eliminated at rainy French Open

By STEVEN WINE, AP Sports Writer

Steven Wine, Ap Sports Writer

1 hr 25 mins ago

 

PARIS – Ana Ivanovic hit another low in her slide since winning the French Open two years ago.

The former No. 1 player lost in the second round Thursday at rainy Roland Garros on Thursday, beaten by 28th-seeded Alisa Kleybanova 6-3, 6-0.

Ivanovic was unseeded because she's ranked only 42nd. The defeat marked her earliest exit in six trips to the French Open.

"It was a combination of a few things," Ivanovic said. "I don't think I played that bad, actually. For a while I think she didn't miss a ball at all."

The match lasted barely an hour — brief enough to be completed between showers. Play was delayed for 4 1/2 hours at the start, and there were two later interruptions.

No. 6-seeded Andy Roddick was up a service break against Blaz Kavcic at 6-3, 5-7, 4-3 when their match was suspended for a second time. Those still scheduled to take the court Thursday included four-time champion Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova.

Nine other matches were completed, seven on the women's side. No. 4-seeded Jelena Jankovic and No. 11 Li Na won, while 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm lost to Jarmila Groth 6-0, 6-3.

Date Krumm became the oldest woman since 1985 to reach the second round when she upset former No. 1 Dinara Safina, the runner-up in 2008 and 2009.

Three seeded women were beaten: No. 8 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 21 Vera Zvonareva and No. 32 Kateryna Bondarenko.

Radwanska was upset by Yaroslava Shvedova 7-5, 6-3. Zvonareva lost to Anastasia Rodionova 6-4, 6-4. Bondarenko was beaten by Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4, 6-1.

Jankovic eliminated Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. Na defeated Stephanie Cohen-Aloro following the long delay at the start of the day, 6-2, 6-2.

"It's not very pleasant to have to wait," Cohen-Aloro said. "But we're all in the same situation."

On the men's side, No. 25 Marcos Baghdatis rallied past Marcel Granollers 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-2.

Sixteen singles matches were postponed, including those involving Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, meaning they won't play their second-round matches until at least Friday — the sixth day of the tournament. Nadal faces Horacio Zeballos, Djokovic plays Kei Nishikori, and Williams takes on Julia Goerges.

Twenty doubles matches were also postponed.

Ivanovic made less than half her first serves against Kleybanova, including only 35 percent in the second set, and won just 17 service points while double-faulting seven times. The Serb is 10-10 this year and has won a total of two matches in the past three Grand Slam tournaments.

Last winter she hired Steffi Graf's old coach, Heinz Gunthardt, and she said she has since made progress.

"It's going to take some time for it to become a pattern and just being used to competing again at that high level against top players," Ivanovic said. "Some days it might be there; some days might not. No doubt I'm on the right way."

Kleybanova advanced to the third round for the first time.

During the first rain delay, the players' cafeteria and lounge areas in the main stadium were packed with players and their entourages, and there were long lines at concession stands and souvenir shops. Several hundred fans sat under umbrellas on center court watching a video replay of last year's final between Roger Federer and Robin Soderling.

"I'm on the floor of the lockeroom in my bed of towels playing Angry Birds," American doubles specialist and online game player Bob Bryan tweeted four hours into the delay. "Anyone have 3 stars on all levels?"

Rain fell with the tournament already behind schedule following three delays Wednesday, the longest of which lasted 90 minutes. Four men's second-round matches were suspended because of darkness Wednesday night, and four women's matches were postponed.

The only washout of an entire day's schedule on record at Roland Garros occurred May 30, 2000. Even so, the French tennis federation has been pushing for a roof and has studied the possibility of moving the tournament, with a site next to the Versailles castle among the locations being considered.

A project announced last year to build a court with a retractable roof less than 500 yards from the current center court was blocked because of political issues.

Wimbledon added a retractable roof last year atop a stadium that opened in the 1920s, and the Australian Open has retractable roof over two courts. But the French and U.S. Open must wait when it rains.

7.2 quake hits South Pacific nation of Vanuatu

17 mins ago

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 rattled the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu early Friday, triggering a tsunami watch for the area, officials said. There were no immediate reports of damage.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued a tsunami warning for Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia. It said the quake had the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that could strike coastlines in the region within minutes to hours.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit at just after 4 a.m. local time and was centered 300 miles (485 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Port Vila, at a depth of 22 miles (36 kilometers).

Authorities in Vanuatu said they were checking for information on both the quake and the regional tsunami alert.

"We have no information yet and no sign of any tsunami, and no alert has been received here yet," police spokesman Smith Wuwue said from Port Vila on the island of Efate.

TIW 5-27-10 FL Midday

Winning Numbers: 337 & 7749

 

038, 943, 690, 631, 684, 819, 725, 401
1804, 2183, 0962, 3498, 3572, 4217, 4307
5910, 5613, 5624, 5208, 9167, 8607, 7985

690, 701, 812, 923, 034, 145, 256, 367, 478, 589

0960, 0961, 0962, 0963, 0964, 0965, 0966, 0967, 0968, 0969

0962, 1962, 2962, 3962, 4962, 5962, 6962, 7962, 8962, 9962

 

14, 15, 45, 69, 60 and/or 90 pairs

958 856 145 632 654 125 783 014 109 403 558 456 231 564 145, 569 256, 456

Being a baby/kid.....................right?!

TIW 5-26-10 SC Midday

Winning Numbers: 654 & 0018

 

058, 165, 210, 259, 286, 891, 347, 609
4937, 5496, 3815, 6789, 6205, 7540, 7630
2843, 2146, 2157, 2539, 8410, 9130, 0892

 

891, 902, 013, 124, 235, 346, 457, 568, 679, 780

9130, 9131, 9132, 9133, 9134, 9135, 9136, 9137, 9138, 9139

0130, 1130, 2130, 3130, 4130, 5130, 6130, 7130, 8130, 9130

 

46 and/or 91 pairs

TIW 5-25-10 NC Evening

Winning Numbers: 491 & 1964

 

604, 790, 876, 805, 849, 457, 213, 965
2071, 3208, 7693, 8160, 8453, 1325, 1875
4627, 4928, 4931, 4370, 6295, 0975, 5604

 

876, 987, 098, 109, 210, 321, 432, 543, 654, 765

7690, 7691, 7692, 7693, 7694, 7695, 7696, 7697, 7698, 7699

0693, 1693, 2693, 3693, 4693, 5693, 6693, 7693, 8693, 9693

 

21 and/or 76 pairs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5-26-10 SC Midday 654 { posted too late for this one }

Interracial marriage still rising, but not as fast

About 8 percent of U.S. marriages are mixed-race

Associated Press Writer

The Associated Press

updated 10:43 a.m. ET, Wed., May 26, 2010

 

WASHINGTON - Melting pot or racial divide? The growth of interracial marriages is slowing among U.S.-born Hispanics and Asians. Still, blacks are substantially more likely than before to marry whites.

 

The number of interracial marriages in the U.S. has risen 20 percent since 2000 to about 4.5 million, according to the latest census figures. While still growing, that number is a marked drop-off from the 65 percent increase between 1990 and 2000.

 

About 8 percent of U.S. marriages are mixed-race, up from 7 percent in 2000.

 

The latest trend belies notions of the U.S. as a post-racial, assimilated society. Demographers cite a steady flow of recent immigration that has given Hispanics and Asians more ethnically similar partners to choose from while creating some social distance from whites due to cultural and language differences.

 

White wariness toward a rapidly growing U.S. minority population also may be contributing to racial divisions, experts said.

 

"Racial boundaries are not going to disappear anytime soon," said Daniel Lichter, a professor of sociology and public policy at Cornell University. He noted the increase in anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks as well as current tensions in Arizona over its new immigration law.

 

"With a white backlash toward immigrant groups, some immigrants are more likely to turn inward to each other for support," Lichter said.

 

Broken down by race, about 40 percent of U.S.-born Asians now marry whites — a figure unchanged since 1980. Their likelihood of marrying foreign-born Asians, meanwhile, multiplied 3 times for men and 5 times for women, to roughly 20 percent.

 

Among U.S.-born Hispanics, marriages with whites increased modestly from roughly 30 percent to 38 percent over the past three decades. But when it came to marriages with foreign-born Hispanics, the share doubled — to 12.5 percent for men, and 17.1 percent for women.

 

In contrast, blacks are now three times as likely to marry whites than in 1980. About 14.4 percent of black men and 6.5 percent of black women are currently in such mixed marriages, due to higher educational attainment, a more racially integrated military and a rising black middle class that provides more interaction with other races.

 

The numbers reflect in part an internal struggle that Asians and Hispanics say they feel navigating two cultural worlds — the U.S. and their parents' homeland.

 

Hai Nguyen, 37, of Houston recalls the instant connection she felt after meeting her first Vietnamese boyfriend, Greg, in college. Nguyen says while she had to explain herself to white boyfriends, with Greg it was a feeling that "he so gets me, because we eat the same food, we like the same things, our families know each other and there is so little that needs to be said."

 

'My parents have prejudices, but they've accepted it'
With the enthusiastic support of her parents, she and Greg married. But their connection soon began to fade, due partly to Nguyen's budding career as a business analyst, which clashed with more traditional expectations for her to "always have fresh food on the table." The two divorced and Nguyen is now remarried to Jon, who is white.

 

"My parents have prejudices, but they've accepted it," said Nguyen. She described occasionally feeling different with her parents and other single-race couples. "They know it's inevitable. My native tongue will eventually fade, and history will take its course."

 

The demographic shifts can complicate conventional notions of racial identity.

 

'Multi' label shunned
Due to increasing interracial marriages, multiracial Americans are a small but fast-growing demographic group, making up about 5 percent of the minority population. Together with blacks, Hispanics and Asians, the Census Bureau estimates they collectively will represent a majority of the U.S. population by mid-century.

 

Still, many multiracial people — particularly those who are part black — shun a "multi" label in favor of identifying as a single race.

 

By some estimates, two-thirds of those who checked the single box of "black" on the census form are actually mixed, including President Barack Obama, who identified himself as black in the 2010 census even though his mother was white.

 

Census figures also show:

 

Hawaii had the highest share of mixed marriages, about 32 percent. It was followed by Alaska, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Nevada, which ranged from 15 percent to 19 percent. The bottom five states were Pennsylvania, Maine, Kentucky, Mississippi and West Virginia, each ranging from 3 percent to 4 percent. Mississippi had the fastest growth in mixed marriages from 2000-08, a sign of closer ties between blacks and whites, though it still ranked second to last in overall share of mixed marriages. Mixed marriages jumped from 2.25 million to 3.7 million, or 65 percent, from 1990-2000, as such unions became more broadly accepted in Southern states. Among U.S.-born whites, about 0.3 percent married blacks in 1980; that figure rose to about 1 percent in 2008. About 0.3 percent of whites married Asians in 1980 and about 1 percent in 2008. About 2 percent of whites married Hispanics in 1980, rising to about 3.6 percent in 2008. Juan Thurman, 37, a Houston sales account manager, says both family pressure and a strong ethnic identity weighed heavily on him as a Hispanic when he was dating, even as he found himself interacting more with other races in school.

 

In high school and at Rice University, Thurman said, he had fewer opportunities to meet Hispanic women in his honors classes. Ultimately, he married Emily, who is white, based on shared life views of gender equity and a liberal outlook toward religion. He relishes having friends of many different backgrounds.

 

"Interracial marriage is not a big deal," Thurman said. "Still, from a family standpoint, I did feel culturally different and I continue to feel so."

 

The figures come from previous censuses as well as the 2008 American Community Survey, which surveys 3 million households. The figures for "white" refer to those whites who are not of Hispanic ethnicity. For purposes of defining interracial marriages, Hispanic is counted as a race.

Federer, Venus Williams advance at French Open

By STEVEN WINE, AP Sports Writer

Steven Wine, Ap Sports Writer

13 mins ago

PARIS – Roger Federer sat under a courtside umbrella and looked up at the gray sky as rain fell.

Tennis, anyone? With drizzle continuing after a one-hour delay, Federer rose from his chair, removed his warmup jacket and went back to work.

A change in the weather Wednesday at the French Open barely slowed defending champion Federer, who eliminated Alejandro Falla 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4. The No. 1-ranked Federer calmly endured two weather delays to reach the third round.

"This is how this game has been played for decades," he said. "We're used to walking on and off the court and being flexible about these kind of things."

After three days of warm sunshine, conditions were damp and cool for the start of round two. There was a third delay of 90 minutes after Federer finished, and because of a schedule backlog, two matches were postponed until Thursday.

The defending women's champion, sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, overcame four matches points in the second set and beat Andrea Petkovic 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Petkovic committed unforced errors on all four points.

Before the rain, No. 2-seeded Venus Williams used her big serve to beat Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2, 6-4. Williams whiffed on a forehand and was often bested in long rallies, but serves at up to 128 mph kept her in control, and she was never broken.

"On the bigger points, especially on my serve, I thought I played those really well," Williams said. "I think that was key."

Williams improved to 14-2 on clay in 2010. She's seeded second behind her younger sister Serena, who scouted while sitting next to their father. The sisters could meet in the final.

Federer lost serve just once against Falla, at 5-all in the opening set, then broke back and hit four winners in the tiebreaker.

"I thought the first set was good, actually, from both sides," Federer said. "He really pushed me to come up with something special, which I couldn't do in the first set, really. I definitely got a little bit lucky to get out of that one."

From there only rain could slow Federer. The match was stopped for 15 minutes in the second set, and again for an hour in the third before play resumed in a drizzle.

He tweaked his game as an adjustment to the weather.

"The texture of the clay changes drastically when there's no sun," he said. "Conditions slow down a lot. ... There are advantages and disadvantages, and you've got to use them if you can."

Federer, who completed a career Grand Slam when he won at Roland Garros last year, is seeking his 17th major title.

No. 5-seeded Robin Soderling won 20 of the first 22 points and went on to beat unseeded American Taylor Dent 6-0, 6-1, 6-1. Soderling, who upset Rafael Nadal last year and then lost to Federer in the final, has dropped only seven games through two matches.

Other men's winners included No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 10 Marin Cilic and No. 11 Mikhail Youzhny.

Only one seeded player lost in either draw: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. He was beaten by Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5.

In other women's play, No. 26 Dominika Cibulkova rallied past American Varvara Lepchenko 4-6, 6-2, 6-0. Cibulkova, a semifinalist last year, faces Williams next.

"I'll continue to try to execute my game and not worry really a ton about what my opponent is doing," Williams said.

Two-time semifinalist Nadia Petrova, seeded 19th, beat Agnes Szavay 6-1, 6-2. No. 14 Flavia Pennetta defeated Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-1.

For the day's opening match on center court, Williams again wore her lacy corset despite the change in the weather, with temperatures in the 60s. At her postmatch news conference, there were seven questions about her outfit.

"Lace has never been done before in tennis, and I've been wanting to do it for a long time," she said. "The illusion of just having bare skin is definitely for me a lot more beautiful."

Williams sent her flounce flying when she served. She went to deuce six times in her first service game before holding, then pulled away to take the set.

In the second set, both players held until the seventh game. Williams drew Parra Santonja into a moonball rally, then sprinted forward to slam a winner. That gave Williams a 4-3 lead, and she served out the victory, her 28th in 32 matches this year.

In 13 previous French Open appearances, Williams reached the semifinals only once — in 2002, when she lost to Serena in the final. But at 29 she's enjoying a career resurgence, and her record this year is the best on the women's tour.

Dent, a 12th-year pro, won at Roland Garros for the first time in the opening round, but against Soderling his serve deserted him. The American double-faulted eight times and won only 11 points on his first serve.

"That was fun, huh?" Dent said. "I'd be a fool to say that I felt like I was in it at any stage. It would be tough for me to beat the 12-and-under French champion playing that way."

Soderling remained on course for a Roland Garros rematch against Federer in the quarterfinals.

"I'm feeling good," Soderling said. "I won two matches pretty easy in straight sets, and I didn't have to run for many hours on court so far, so I feel fresh."

Tsonga, France's best title hope, defeated fellow Frenchman Josselin Ouanna 6-0, 6-1, 6-4. Cilic swept Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2, and Youzhny rallied past Lukas Lacko 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.

Popular diet drug gets liver damage warning

FDA says alli can cause severe problems in rare cases

updated 2:00 p.m. ET, Wed., May 26, 2010

 

WASHINGTON - Federal health officials are warning consumers that the weight loss pill alli may cause severe liver damage in rare cases.

 

The Food and Drug Administration says it has added a warning about the risk to the label of the drug, which is sold over-the-counter by GlaxoSmithKline. A prescription version called Xenical is marketed by Roche.

 

The FDA identified 13 instances of liver damage associated with the drugs. A causal effect between the drugs and the problem has not been established.

 

The FDA urged doctors and patients to watch for signs of liver injury, including itching, yellow eyes and skin and loss of appetite.

 

Glaxo said in a statement it is "committed to ensuring that consumers and physicians understand the safety profile" of alli.

Midday 5-26-10 Evening

** until 5-29-10 **

9090, 9091, 9092, 9093, 9094, 9095, 9096, 9097, 9098, 9099

2090, 2091, 2092, 2093, 2094, 2095, 2096, 2097, 2098, 2099

2200, 2201, 2202, 2203, 2204, 2205, 2206, 2207, 2208, 2209

0520, 1520, 2520, 3520, 4520, 5520, 6520, 7520, 8520, 9520

Author of Palin book moves next door to her

McGinniss moves to Wasilla, Alaska for ‘up-close reporting’

updated 10:48 p.m. ET, Tues., May 25, 2010

 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Sarah Palin has taken to her Facebook page to complain about her new neighbor — a writer penning a book about her.

 

Author Joe McGinniss has taken up residence in a house next to Palin's lakeside home in Wasilla.

 

McGinniss previously wrote a critical expose on Palin and her natural gas pipeline plan for the Conde Nast publication Portfolio last year, and is planning a book about the former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate. It's tentatively titled, "Sarah Palin's Year of Living Dangerously" and could be on the shelves in the fall of 2011.

 

"Yes, that Joe McGinniss. Here he is about 15 feet away on the neighbor's rented deck overlooking my children's play area and my kitchen window," Palin posted on Facebook late Monday, hours after returning from a trip to the Lower 48 and learning of McGinniss' presence.

 

"We're sure to have a doozey to look forward to with this treasure he's penning. Wonder what kind of material he'll gather while overlooking Piper's bedroom, my little garden, and the family's swimming hole?" she wrote.

 

McGinniss is renting the place "for the next five months or so," Palin wrote.

 

Neither McGinniss, author of such best-selling books as "The Selling of the President," "Blind Faith" and "Fatal Vision," nor his agent were available for comment Tuesday.

 

However, his publishing house, Broadway Books, released a statement.

 

It reads, in part: "McGinniss is the author of 'Going to Extremes,' a classic book about Alaska, and his work-in-progress returns him to the 49th state to examine Sarah Palin's significance as both a political and cultural phenomenon and as an embodiment of the contradictory forces that shaped Alaska as it moved into its second half-century of statehood.

 

"Well regarded for his in-depth, up-close reporting, Mr. McGinniss will be highly respectful of his subject's privacy as he investigates her public activities," the statement says.

 

Palin has promised to ensure that privacy.

 

"And you know what they say about 'fences make for good neighbors'? Well, we'll get started on that tall fence tomorrow," she wrote on Facebook.

   Congratulations to Nicole and Derek on winning the mirror ball trophy!!

 

"Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries."

 - James Michener -