| Brown fails to back Alexander’s tax power bid
Last night, Angus Robertson, the SNP's leader at Westminster, claimed that the Prime Minister had made a gaffe at his monthly press conference, arguing that Mr Brown had "asserted that London rule was the preference in Scotland". "Having lost the Scottish Parliament elections, Gordon Brown still doesn't seem to realise that people in Scotland want more decisions taken closer to home," declared the Moray MP. "The majority of Scots voted in 2007 for parties committed to increasing the powers of the Scottish Parliament. Labour has been the last party to formally recognise the demand for further powers but they still don't trust the people to decide." Mr Robertson added: "The SNP believes the people should have the choice and we are confident, with the rising support for independence, that Scotland will choose independence." .
Kosovo marks first week of independence
Every night that we lie in bed we don't know in the morning what is going to happen," said Jovanka Petrovic, among Sunday worshippers at Gracanica's Orthodox church. "There is no more Serbia. We have lost everything," said Ana Ivanovic, another worshipper. But ethnic Albanians exulted in their independence and held out hope that the unrest and uncertainty would subside. "People keep celebrating every night," Artan Dedushaj said. "This is something that all Albanians have waited centuries for - and changes will come soon." .
Jeff Thelen's Blog
So, I go to a movie Saturday night. I have some friends in Waupaca and we always meet in Stevens Point, since that's half way between us. We don't get to see each other as often as we'd like, so we do a lot of catching up. We also like to pretend we're the cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and make fun of what we see on screen, if it's bad. And we're pop culture geeks so we talk about the actors, directors, special effects, etc. On top of that, my cell phone went off. I told the caller I'd call her back. But all of this happened BEFORE the movie, during the trailers, or previews of the upcoming films. Once the movie started we all hushed up, except for the occasional gasp. (we saw Sweeney Todd, which is really quite gross) Still, a man sitting directly in front of me turned around at the end of the last trailer and said, "OK, let's keep the comments to ourselves now that the movie is starting." I said "Yea, we planned on it once the movie started." After hearing the exchange, the group behind us (all adults) actually made several comments about the movie during the movie.
Murderer, serial escaper, captured in New Brunswick
RCMP officers in New Brunswick have apprehended a murderer and serial prison escapee who is one of the most wanted men in the United States. Richard Lee McNair, 48, has been on the U.S Marshals 15 Most Wanted List ever since he "mailed" himself out of a Louisiana penitentiary more than a year ago. Investigators say McNair packed himself into a pallet of mailbags scheduled for delivery outside of the prison. The fugitive was serving three life sentences for murder, attempted murder and burglary in small-town North Dakota. His colourful story has repeatedly been featured on America's Most Wanted. .
Ledger remembered by Spirit winner Cate
Moments of the ceremony were a tribute to Ledger, who died of an accidental prescription drug overdose on January 22 at his Manhattan apartment. One of six actors playing incarnations of Bob Dylan in director Todd Haynes' I'm Not There, Ledger was remembered as "probably one of the most beautiful independent spirits of all" by Cate Blanchett, winner of the supporting-actress prize for portraying Dylan in his transition from folk icon to electric rocker, a role that also earned her an Oscar nomination. "We all loved him so dearly," Haynes said of Ledger, recalling that the actor had started making music videos and intended to go into directing himself. "I have no doubt he would have made an astounding director." Ledger was a Spirit Award best-actor nominee two years ago for Brokeback Mountain, the best picture winner.
PocketSurfer browser to make waves
After a day with a PocketSurfer, DoubleClick can tell you it's a clever gadget. And at $399, Datawind will sell a lot of them this Christmas. But we did find a few flaws - and there may be other devices out there that offer better value. More on that later. The gadget looks a bit like a Nokia Communicator and fits neatly into the palm of your hand. It flips open to reveal a letterbox-style screen and a full qwerty keyboard. It has a Vodafone SIM card in its innards and uses mobile data GPRS technology, but you can't use it to make a phone call. Nor will the PocketSurfer act as a music player, digital camera or mini-computer. It does only one thing: browse the internet. It turns on instantly, and - thanks to Datawind's acceleration technology - loads web pages very quickly: typically in seven seconds or less, even though they're being beamed from Datawind's servers in Canada.
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