| Brown prepared to ban plastic bags
Gordon Brown has given his strongest indication yet that he could outlaw free plastic bags. Writing in a national newspaper, the prime minister urged all major retailers to do more to eliminate single-use plastic bags. In November, Mr Brown told supermarkets they needed to find ways of cutting plastic use, with the government and retailers agreeing a voluntary commitment to cut plastic bag use by 25 per cent. Today Mr Brown praised Ikea's policies, which have seen it cut plastic bag use by 95 per cent, and Marks and Spencer's recent decision to charge for bags. Reportedly, ministers are prepared to legislate against single-use plastic bags if retailers cannot find ways of reducing their use. Legislation could be brought forward this year via an amendment to the climate change bill, which will set legally-binding targets to reduce UK carbon emissions.
Church-sponsored teams offer friendly contests for competitors of all ...
Vancouver offers adult leagues for basketball, softball and volleyball. Groups typically sign up as a team, but individuals looking for a team can put their names on a list. Contact Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation at 360-487-7082 for more information about softball and volleyball. For basketball, call 360-487-7025. Some indoor sports arenas have adult soccer leagues with weekly games. To learn more about Salmon Creek Indoor Sports Arena's leagues, call 360-571-7628. For Clark County Indoor Sports Center, call 360-604-4487. .
Charlize, Salma, Penelope: Domino Effect
There is Hollywood swinging, and then there is Hollywood swinging. On a day that began in producer Robert Evans' fabled backyard and ended with Cameron Diaz singing along to "Another Brick in the Wall" at Drew Barrymore's birthday party, Thursday night was marked by a ferocious round of something called "Hollywood Domino" in a banquet room at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The players were dressed in formal gowns, since the finalists at three round tables covered in red cloth to accentuate the black dominoes were all glamorous, famous women: Charlize Theron, Kate Hudson, Donna Karan, Salma Hayek, Demi Moore and daughter Rumer Willis. The one man of boldfaced note who was still playing: Theron's boyfriend, actor Stuart Townsend. Other men dallied through the room including Ashton Kutcher, James Van Der Beek (cheering from the sidelines) and Matthew Perry.
Marine donates kidney to man he barely knew
Staff Sgt. Darren Smiley was sitting at Thanksgiving dinner in 2006 when he made a decision: He needed to see if he could help a man he barely knew by giving up a kidney. Within weeks, Smiley, a reservist with Charlie Company, 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, started a lengthy testing process that led him to an operating table Jan. 30 at UCLA Medical Center in California. His left kidney was removed and placed in Daniel Haven, 43, an X-ray technician and father of a 4-year-old girl. Days after the surgery, Smiley, a 31-year-old father of three who has served two tours in Iraq, shrugged off the donation. "I have a young son myself, and the waiting list is usually seven or eight years," he said in a Feb. 5 phone interview from California. "I would hope that someone would do the same for me if they had the chance." The surgery has brought together two clans that had a familial connection but did not know each other particularly well.
Lions must ride it out with Rogers
It's also up to Marinelli and his staff to do their jobs, to push Rogers to do his. And if he doesn't stay in shape, shame on Big Baby. If he doesn't, you bench or fine him or otherwise punish him, and even then I don't see how the Lions are way worse for having given it another shot. Remember last offseason? Remember the glee with which many welcomed cornerback Dre Bly's banishment to Denver? Hmm. How'd that work out? I remember the refrain well. Bly was divisive and had to be moved and everyone knew it. So in return, all the Lions got were Tatum Bell and George Foster, both eventually benched. And the Lions' biggest weakness, their ultimate undoing after the 6-2 start, was their lack of competent cornerbacks. Shocker. The Lions were so desperate to get rid of Bly, their leverage was nil and their options were limited.
Phelps learns to love mornings
Before Michael Phelps even knew there was such a concept as early person/late person, he was the embodiment of a night owl. His mother would try to wake him up - nicely, of course - for his dawn swim or his first class, and he would resist, silently, stubbornly, like almost any other teenager in captivity. Phelps, who will turn 23 in June, is one of the most famous Olympians in the world, with six gold medals and two bronzes in his possession. He is turning his biorhythms upside down because he will be swimming finals in the middle of the morning in August, courtesy of the collaboration between the organizers of the Beijing Summer Games and NBC, the American broadcaster. That's right, the nation that used to use sport to stimulate camaraderie between Chairman Mao speeches is now staging Olympic finals at the bizarre hour of 10 a.m.
Police officer guarding motorcade had a 'very dangerous' job
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TV screens to get bigger, smaller
In Las Vegas, the world's top equipment makers gather for the annual Consumer Electronics Show, probably the best place in the world for getting an insight into what devices are expected to set the market afire in the coming year. Soon after, the focus shifts to San Francisco, where Apple gathers its faithful for MacWorld, its main annual conference. Below are some of this year's highlights from the two events. Flash memory ONE development certain to drive innovation in electronic gadgets this year is the growth in capacity and versatility of flash memory. So fast is flash capacity growing that these small cards are beginning to challenge hard drives as the main medium for storage. At this month's CES, for example, Panasonic upped the ante by announcing a 32GB SD card capable of storing more than five hours of high-definition video footage.
THE CORNER CUBE: Morishima great in '08, Kristal out of WWE
Updated throughout the day, Torch columnist James Caldwell's new weekday blog focuses on hot topic current events and issues from around wrestling. Caldwell writes from his corner cubicle after a sudden department re-location to the other side of the office. It's law firm office politics. Updated Wednesday, November 21 (last update: 7:05 p.m.) Have a great Thanksgiving, Torch readers! A few weeks ago, I wrote about WWE needing to make the switch to HDTV, especially with its Smackdown broadcast. Watching the show, which is currently broadcast in regular video format, on an HDTV isn't a particularly great experience when viewers are slowly becoming accustomed to viewing their favorite TV shows in crystal-clear high-def. Considering that every major retailer from Wal-Mart to Best Buy is offering deep discounts on HDTVs for the Christmas shopping season, the number of households without HDTV will be shrinking by the day.
Spanking Messes Up Sex Lives, Author Says
DURHAM, N.H. -- New research by a University of New Hampshire domestic abuse expert says spanking children affects their sex lives as adults. Professor Murray Straus concludes that children who are spanked are more likely as adults to coerce partners to have sex, to have unprotected sex and to have masochistic sex. Other studies have shown the link between spanking and physical violence, but Straus said his research is the first to show a link between corporal punishment and sexual behavior. He said his motive is to bring the results to the attention of parents and others. He said he hopes the news will help continue the decrease in corporal punishment. .
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