NBey6's Blog

22-year-old goes from Miss Va. to Miss America

By OSKAR GARCIA, Associated Press Writer

Sun Jan 31, 12:30 pm ET

LAS VEGAS – A 22-year-old Virginia woman who said she once thought her only talent was singing is the nation's newest Miss America, emerging from a field of 53 contestants picked for their beauty, compassion and interview savvy.

Caressa Cameron, a broadcast journalism student at Virginia Commonwealth University, now plans a second year away from college as she travels extensively to raise money for charity and carry the 89-year-old pageant's crown.

"I hope to gain inspiration, I hope to gain momentum so that when this 365 days is over, I can shoot through the moon," Cameron told The Associated Press.

Cameron, the first black Miss America since Ericka Dunlap in 2005, says she wants to get a master's degree and eventually become a news anchor.

Cameron, the daughter of a background researcher for the government and a contractor, said she was inspired to compete in pageants at age 14, when Miss Virginia 2003 Nancy Redd visited her school.

"At that time, all I knew that I could do was sing — that's all I had," the Fredericksburg, Va., native said.

Cameron said that after that visit, she decided to try out for a school musical, which snowballed into more opportunities in the arts, drama and other areas.

"More doors and more doors continued to open," she said. "It's so important that we reach our young people, because there are so many young people that are at the very same crossroads that I was at."

"We need those people to let them know that just because your circumstances are a certain way, you don't have to succumb to them," she said. "You can do something amazing, like become Miss America."

The last Miss America from Virginia was Nicole Johnson in 1999.

Cameron won the title and a $50,000 scholarship Saturday night after strutting in a skintight yellow dress, belting Beyonce's "Listen" from "Dreamgirls" and advising parents to limit video games and television when asked about childhood obesity during an onstage interview.

"We need to get our kids back outside, playing with sticks in the street like I did when I was little," she said. "Expand your mind, go outside and get to see what this world is like."

Miss California Kristy Cavinder was the first runner-up, winning $25,000.

The young women who came out on stage at the beginning of the pageant and danced to "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas are from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

After a week of preliminary competition that counted 30 percent toward their final scores, they each introduced themselves to the crowd Saturday at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

"From the home of the Governator, I am here to pump you up," Cavinder said as she was introduced.

The judges, the public and contestants themselves then trimmed the field over the next two hours.

Actor and "Extra" host Mario Lopez hosted the 89-year-old pageant with help from Clinton Kelly of TLC's "What Not to Wear." The pageant was broadcast live on TLC.

The panel of judges included radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, actress Vivica Fox, musician Dave Koz, Miss America 2002 Katie Harman, gymnast Shawn Johnson and former "American Idol" finalist Brooke White. Comedian Paul Rodriguez was set to be a judge, but organizers said he pulled out because of a family emergency.

Each judge ranked their five favorites in order, and their ballots were used to pick Cameron as the winner. She was crowned by Miss America 2009 Katie Stam of Seymour, Ind.

Cameron won her state's title on her fourth try, and said she saw pageantry as a way to raise money and awareness for her platform issue, AIDS awareness.

She said the issue is personal for her because her uncle died of AIDS and her family fostered a young girl who lived with the disdease.

She was recognized by Congress in 2007 for her work to bring instant-result HIV testing to her home state.

During the Miss Virginia pageant last year, Cameron was asked her opinion about gay marriage, the same issue Miss California Carrie Prejean was asked about during the Miss USA pageant two months earlier.

Cameron said she believed marriage should be between a man and woman because of her religious beliefs, but she didn't think there should be laws against gay marriage.

When the judges' decision in that pageant came, Cameron said she experienced a quiet moment onstage.

"'Thy will be done,' That's what I kept saying," she said. "Thy will be done."

The crowning of a Miss America began in 1921 as a publicity stunt to persuade tourists on Atlantic City's Boardwalk to stick around after Labor Day.

The bathing revue blossomed in the age of television into an American pop icon before fading in later years and losing it place on network TV in 2004. It moved to the Las Vegas Strip in 2006 in an attempt to reinvent itself and has found a home on cable television.

Formula shows why it's so hard to cut jobless rate

• By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
• 19 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The economy's 5.7 percent growth last quarter — the fastest pace since 2003 — was a step toward shrinking the nation's 10 percent unemployment rate.

There's just one problem: Growth would have to equal 5 percent for all of 2010 just to lower the average jobless rate for the year by 1 percentage point.

And economists don't think that's possible.

Most analysts say economic activity will slow to 2.5 percent or 3 percent growth for the current quarter as the benefits fade from government stimulus efforts and from companies drawing down less of their stockpiles.

That's why the Federal Reserve and outside economists think it will take until around the middle of the decade to lower the double-digit jobless rate to a more normal 5 or 6 percent.

Another way of looking at it: A net total of about 3 million jobs would have to be created this year to lower the average unemployment rate by 1 percentage point for 2010, economists estimate. Yet even optimists think the creation of 1 million net jobs is probably out of reach this year.

High unemployment poses a risk to the unfolding recovery because it leads consumers to spend less, keeping economic growth weak. A sharp pullback in spending might even push the economy back into recession. Joblessness also represents a danger for President Barack Obama's Democratic Party in this fall's congressional elections.

The National Association for Business Economics and the International Monetary Fund think gross domestic product will rise just under 3 percent for all of this year. GDP, the best gauge of economic activity, measures the value of all goods and services produced in the United States.

To get a sense of just how deep a dent the worst recession since the 1930s has made in the economy, consider this: The economy shrank 2.4 percent for all of 2009 — the sharpest drop since 1946. It was also the first annual decline since 1991.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com, and Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Han, agree that the economy would have to grow roughly 5 percent for all of 2010 just to ratchet down the average unemployment rate for the year by 1 percentage point — to a still-high 9 percent.

Their math is based on Okun's law, named for economist Arthur Okun. In 1962, Okun produced a formula for the connection he saw between unemployment and economic activity.

Exactly how much GDP growth is needed to lower the unemployment rate for a given period varies. That's because the formula involves several factors besides GDP growth. It also considers, for example, businesses' productivity growth.

When the economy was recovering from the 2001 recession, it took two years to reduce the unemployment rate by nearly a full percentage point: It fell from 6 percent in 2003 to 5.1 percent in 2005. GDP growth averaged just over 3 percent.

Economists say the formula hasn't always held up perfectly in recent decades. Rather, it's relied upon as a rough rule of thumb for determining how much growth will be needed to lower unemployment.

But a near-textbook case occurred in 1976, when the economy expanded at a 5.4 percent pace. As Okun would have predicted, that growth drove down the unemployment rate by nearly a full percentage point: from 8.5 percent in 1975 to 7.7 percent.

"If you're strong enough, there are no precedents."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald -

Saturday 1-30-10

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Evening 1-31-10 Evening

** until 2-4-10 **

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Midday & Evening

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Friday, January 29, 2010
Updated: January 30, 7:33 AM ET
Kobe-LeBron ads feature gun slang

---

Associated Press

NEW YORK -- An advertisement featuring the NBA's two biggest superstars includes a gun reference, the same week two players were suspended for carrying firearms to the locker room.

 

The Nike ad, which appears in several publications including Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine, has LeBron James on one page and Kobe Bryant on the other. Along with the slogan, "Prepare For Combat," is a quote from each player showing how tough he is.

 

Bryant's blurb says: "I'll do whatever it takes to win games. I don't leave anything in the chamber."

 

The chamber in a gun is the compartment that holds the bullet before it is fired.

 

"The Nike print ad featuring Kobe Bryant was intended to illustrate his all out play and commitment on the basketball court," Nike said in a statement. "It is a commonly used reference for shooting the basketball and no offense was intended."

 

NBA commissioner David Stern is sensitive to the issue of gun violence, and the NBA criticized the ad.

 

"We had no prior notice of this ad," spokesman Tim Frank said. "We think it is inappropriate."

 

Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton were suspended for the remainder of the season Wednesday by Stern for having guns in the Washington Wizards' locker room.

 

Bryant agreed with the league's stance on the advertisement.

 

"That ad was done months ago, prior to anything that came out," Bryant said after the Lakers beat the 76ers on Friday night. "Obviously, we're very sensitive toward that considering the current time and everything that happened since then. It's definitely inappropriate. I advised my business partners of that."

 

James defended Bryant, saying the words were taken out of context.

 

"That has nothing, zero, to do with guns," James said, raising his voice at reporters. "At all. At all. Zero. That's very simple. For somebody to even say that -- that's a basketball term. To try to highlight Kobe and say that he was referencing guns is totally ridiculous."

 

James said such slang is common among his peers.

 

"We say a lot of things as basketball players that make a reference to guns and violence, but it's really not guns and violence," he said.

 

Pacers coach Jim O'Brien used similar language after James' Cavaliers beat his team 94-73 on Friday. The Pacers had lost to Bryant's Lakers on Wednesday by 22 points, and O'Brien was unhappy with his team's poor shooting.

 

"We played two championship contenders, and they played like it against us," he said. "We did not have enough bullets in our gun to make games of it. That's about it."

 

Stern said during a conference call Wednesday that he and players' association executive director Billy Hunter would discuss a stronger gun policy than the one currently in the collective bargaining agreement, which prohibits players from having firearms on team property or business.

 

The wording under the photo of a shirtless James reads: "Opposing teams don't realize I was a football player first. I can take those hits and give a few back too."

 

The ad features a far different look -- the athletes' skin transformed to scaly armor -- than Nike's spots featuring puppets in the likenesses of James and Bryant.

 

The current campaign was too much for Cleveland city officials, who rejected a proposal by Nike to erect a 10-story tall mural of a bare-chested James. Over his left shoulder would have been the words "Prepare for Combat," topped by the Nike trademark swoosh.

 

The city wanted the display to project a more positive tone and have a Cleveland reference.

Saturday, January 30, 2010
Obama on hand for Duke-Georgetown

---

Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- There was a familiar voice behind the microphone during the Duke-Georgetown basketball game -- Barack Obama's.

 

The president, attending the game as a fan, provided about seven minutes of nationally televised hoops commentary in the second half of Saturday's matchup of two top 10 teams at the Verizon Center near the White House.

 

The president shook hands with several fans as he entered the arena, and enjoyed the game from a front-row seat, not the luxury suites that top government officials sometimes prefer. Those with him included Vice President Joe Biden, White House senior adviser David Axelrod and White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

 

Shortly after the second half began, the president was seated between CBS announcers Verne Lundquist and Clark Kellogg. Obama, an avid fan of the sport who often plays pickup games, seemed to impress the pair.

 

After Obama niftily described a spin move and basket by one player, Kellogg told him he could handle the job of announcing.

 

"After retirement, I'm coming after your job, Clark," Obama replied. "I'm just letting you know. So you either have three more years or seven more years," he said, referring to the possibility that he might be re-elected to a second term.

 

At another point, CBS aired tape of a pickup game Obama played during the 2008 presidential campaign, including a missed left-handed layup. That prompted Lundquist to ask Obama if he has problems dribbling to his right.

 

"I went to the Republican House caucus just yesterday to prove that I could go to my right once in a while," Obama joked, referring to a televised session Friday when the president attended a House GOP retreat in Baltimore.

 

The president -- a Columbia University graduate -- munched on popcorn and occasionally used his Blackberry. He revealed no preference for either team, despite sitting among a throng of wildly cheering Georgetown fans, including some who were shirtless, smeared in blue and gray body paint and wearing wigs.

 

After a referee made a call that went against Georgetown, an obscene chant was cut short after one student admonished another, "Dude, the president of the United States is right there."

 

Obama told the CBS announcers that his job keeps him too busy to watch a full game on TV during the regular season. But when it comes to NCAA tournament, he said he watches all the Final Four games.

 

Obama departed with about a minute left as Georgetown (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 7 AP) beat Duke (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP) 89-77. Nearby students chanted "USA, USA" as he exited, waving.

 

Security for the game was intensified, with fans having to pass through metal detectors, cars being searched as they entered the building's garage, and a large number of security agents in the arena.

 

Duke and Georgetown are using their game to launch an initiative to raise money for children in refugee camps in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Looking up Down Under: Serena tops Henin for crown

By JOHN PYE, AP Sports Writer

1 hr 49 mins ago

MELBOURNE, Australia – Serena Williams loves a good underdog story and understood that most of the crowd was behind Justine Henin.

All that sentiment was put aside once she heard an insult from the stands, a crack that went right to the heart of all athletes. Williams surged to a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory in the Australian Open final Saturday, closing this chapter on Henin's remarkable comeback from retirement.

"I think everyone was for Justine tonight," Williams said. "But you know what really helped me out? This one guy was like, 'You can beat her Justine, she's not that good.'

"I looked at that guy and I was like, you don't know me," Williams added, wagging her finger. "I think I won all the games after that because that's totally rude."

Williams plopped on her back at Rod Laver Arena after capturing her fifth Australian Open title, breaking her sequence of victories in this major in each odd-numbered year since 2003. It also gave her more Australian titles than any woman in the Open era and allowed her to match Billie Jean King's career total of 12 majors in singles.

Henin, in her first Grand Slam and only second tournament since she quit suddenly in May 2008, had gone on a stunning run to win 20 of 22 points to even the final at one set apiece and take a lead in the third.

With her right thigh and left knee heavily taped and hampered by a litany of aches and pains, Williams had her backers in the crowd, sister Venus among them.

But the knocks gave her the most motivation.

"That is a part of being me. Like hearing things like that that inspires me to work harder, do better," Williams said. "I feel like I have things to prove."

Henin, unranked, fell one win short of emulating fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters' amazing Grand Slam comeback at the U.S. Open last September. Clijsters beat Williams in the semifinals before taking the title at Flushing Meadows in only her third tournament back from two years in retirement.

"It's been a very emotional two weeks for me," said Henin, a 27-year-old, seven-time Grand Slam singles winner. "I thought it would never happen again. It's been almost perfect. Just the last step, I couldn't make it."

Henin slipped to 8-6 in her head-to-heads with Williams. But this was the first time they'd met in the Grand Slam final. In the even-numbered years between Serena's triumphs in Australia, Henin won the 2004 title, had to quit during the 2006 final against Amelie Mauresmo and lost in the 2008 quarterfinals to eventual champion Maria Sharapova. That was her last major.

Serena has now won three majors in 12 months, including Wimbledon and the Australian in 2009. Her conversion rate in Grand Slam finals is 12 of 15, second only to Margaret Court.

Serena teamed with Venus to successfully defend their Australian Open doubles title Friday, their 11th Grand Slam doubles championship, and planned some family celebrations Saturday night.

Another set of American siblings won the men's doubles. Twins Bob and Mike Bryan combined for their fourth Australian Open title, a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 win over Daniel Nestor of Canada and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic.

Roger Federer and Andy Murray were to play for the men's championship Sunday night. Murray is hoping to end a 74-year drought for British men at the majors. Federer, who has the record at 15 career majors, cracked that he thought the drought had lasted 150,000 years.

Still the 22-year-old Scot has already achieved something no British man has done in the Open era just by reaching two Grand Slam finals. His first ended in a straight-sets loss to Federer at the 2008 U.S. Open. Murray is more confident this time.

"I just feel physically more mature, mentally more mature," Murray said. "Just a lot more experience in these sort of situations now."

He'll need every bit of that.

Federer is playing in his 22nd Grand Slam final and has won three of the four he's reached at Melbourne Park.

Murray conceded that Federer is "probably the best tennis player ever." But he wasn't indestructible, as shown by Rafael Nadal's five-set win in the last Australian Open final and Juan Martin del Potro's victory at the U.S. Open last September.

"If I play my best, I think I've got a good chance against anyone," Murray said.

Williams said she'd tried matching Federer's numbers in the majors, but it became too hard because the target keeps moving.

She was happy to join King in sixth place on the career list of women's major champions, and doubts she'll get to Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, who have 18 majors each.

King was at the stadium Saturday to take part in a ceremony honoring the 40-year anniversary of Margaret Court's season Grand Slam in 1970.

"Billie, we are tied," Williams said. "So I've reached my goal."

Williams said she'd like to get to 13 by winning at the French Open because her one title in Paris is the only one without a "twin."

In the meantime, she's trying to focus on the other achievements of King, who has been active in equal rights for women in sports and all walks of life.

"To tie Billie Jean King is cool. But honestly, my whole thing is to do what she did off the court," Williams said. "When I think of Billie Jean King, I don't even think about tennis. I think about all the amazing things that she's done. And that's what I want to do, with every aspect of my life."

King is complimentary about Williams and her impact on women's sports. She points to the 28-year-old player's greater maturity, mindful of Williams' U.S. Open tirade that cost her a record fine of $82,500.

Since then, Williams has set up a charity to raise money for her school in Africa, with contributions to the Haiti relief fund and elsewhere.

"At the end of the day, I've moved on," Williams said. "One moment doesn't make one person's career. It's all about the moments that you put together. For the most part, that's it."

"Whenever you see a successful business, someone made a courageous decision."

- Peter Drucker -

Well here we go again............The rivalry between these 2 ladies is about to get elevated to the 10th power, I'm sure. On Saturday,  Serena and Justine are going to battle it out for the Austrialian Open Women's Singles title. This could easily be labled, "Clash of the Titans." Serena has a 7-6 record against Justine head to head, but this will be a test of will from both players for sure!!!

   

Sounds like the man is saying "retarded"...................LOL!!

Midday & Evening

** until 1-31-10 **

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