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THE 11 Best Toys of 2008: Toy Industry Awards
The toy industry held its 105th annual Toy Fair this week in New York City. At the opening ceremonies, The Toy Industry Association (TIA) announced the winners of 2008's, T.O.T.Y's, Toy Of The Year awards. Like the Oscars, the T.O.T.Y's are awarded to toys debuting in the prior year. Twelve T.O.T.Y.'s were awarded in eleven categories, like Best Outdoor Toy, Best Educational Toy, Game of the Year, Most Innovative Toy, Best Boy Toy, and of course, THE Toy Of The YearI
I won't keep you in suspense, I'll share THE Toy of the Year with you first!
1. Toy of the Year: Air Hogs Havoc Heli Laser Battle (Spin Master, Ltd.)
Not just for kids, the Air Hogs Havoc Heli Lasers ($130) packs twin drive props, dual top rotors, and six way directional control into the smallest radio-controlled helicopters in the world. These helis even make the sounds of battling helicopters. Made for two players, each gets a dual-toggle, single throttle wireless control for his heli. Battles made to be fought indoors; just perfect for heli couch potatoes!
The Havoc Helis are rated "easy to fly;" at least one user has reported his two-year old can fly it. This video from AirHogsGirl shows the Havoc Helis in action:
2. Most Innovative Toy Of The Year: Smart Cycle? Physical Learning Arcade (Fisher-Price)
3. Educational Toy of the Year: Smart Cycle? Physical Learning Arcade (Fisher-Price)
Yes, you read it right: the Smart Cycle won both Educational Toy of the Year and Most Innovative Toy of the Year!
Why not? Kids love to be active and love to watch videos and play arcade games. So Fisher Price combined all three in this stationary bike that hooks up to your TV. For 3 to 6 year-olds, this Smart Cycle also sneaks in a bit of schooling, teaching abc's, numbers, spelling, problem solving, and other pre-school skills. Motor coordination is supported through the use of directional movement of the bike handles and the joy stick; and the bike's speed controls how fast the lessons are played. Smart Cycle is available for about $100. Also, you can now buy many of your child's favorite toy and story characters in Smart Cycle software format, such as Dora , Sponge Bob , Dino , Elmo , HotWheels, and even Barbie!
4. Electronic Entertainment Toy of the Year: Power Tour Electric Guitar (Tiger Electronics)
This Gibson-branded "toy" guitar is more than a mime-along, although that's fun for all of us rockers. The Power Tour Electric Guitar offers a really fun learning strategy for the young rocker who, by following the lights on the frets can learn the basic chords of 12 pre-loaded songs while they are playing. The accompanying DVD teaches strumming, fingering, chording, and other tricks of the trade. An MP3 player can be hooked up to the guitar so you can play along with the music of your choice. This toy has a very high customer rating as a learning device for young people and their parents! Available in black , white , and yes... pink from $30 - $60 at Amazon.com. The Power Tour Amp is sold separately for $44.99.
5. Infant/Preschool Toy of the Year: Moon Sand Adventure Island (SpinMaster Ltd.)
Sand and plastic molds in bright colors makes building sand characters just too much fun, and you don't even have to bring your kiddies to the beach! The sand and molds can be all wrapped up in the toy's case for transport and clean-up, so that makes Moon Sand Adventure Island even neater than it may seem. For ages 3 - 8, priced at 14.69.
6. Activity Toy of the Year: Lego City (LEGO Systems, Inc.)
Lego Systems just keeps advancing what it does best, helping to stimulate creativity in kids (and their parents) through building activities. Lego city has an array of emergency and industrial vehicles available now: cargo ships, emergency vehicles, construction trucks, and so many others. Within each grouping there are four or five different Lego models. Customers provide ratings for Lego toys, so you can get feedback on them before you purchase. Lego will shop the cheapest prices for you! Play video games utilizing these vehicles on-line at the Lego City website.
7. Game of the Year: Rubik's Revolution (Techno Source)
If you're not busy or dizzy enough, you can try the challenge of this super Rubik's Cube. Rubik's Revolution is on speed, electronically speaking, with flashing lights going off like crazy that you either stamp out, light up, memorize, or beat up your friends with... I'm exhausted even writing about it. Six programmed games are more than enough to keep you busy until the next generation of Rubik comes along. Rubik Revolution sells for 18.92 at Amazon.com.
8. Specialty Toy of the Year: Snap Circuits (Elenco)
The specialty award goes to the best product distributed primarily to a specialty market, but with the emphasis in learning toys, and in learning while doing, model shops may become a thing of the past, as mass markets increase their share. Snap Circuits 300, so named because the 60 parts contained can make up to 300 different electronic parts including an AM radio, burglar alarm, radio announcer and so many more. Requires 4 "AA" batteries, not included. The heck with the recommended age level (8 - 15 years), I'm buying one for myself. At Amazon.com.
9. Outdoor Toy of the Year: Ripstik Caster Board (Ripstik USA)
Whew! If I was young again and a bit more certain of my balancing ability, I would LOVE to Ripstik! The company says Ripstik is made for ages 7 to 83.25 years; I guess it found a very daring 83-year old!
This two-wheeled, foot-gripping board looks like its cousin, the skateboard, but has the action, according to users, of a snowboard, with a similar ability to "carve." The Ripstik makes the skateboard sooo 20th Century! Ripstik is available in several models starting at about $80; instructional videos are included. Make sure you purchase a helmet to go with the Ripstick; you don't want to be without one.
Want to see someone (nbscooters) make Ripstiking look easy?
10a. Girl Toy of the Year: Littlest Pet Shop: Display & Play Round & Round Pet Town Playset (Hasbro, Inc.)
For ages 4 and up, the Littlest Pet Shop has some unique activities for its toy pets, including riding an elevator, sliding down a board, swinging in a hammock and just hanging out together. This Pet Shop has a total of nine toy pets (some only have two pets) for a cost of $40.
10b. Girl Toy of the Year: Troop Groovy Girls (Manhattan Toy)
No, you're not seeing double. The T.O.T.Y. was awarded to two toys in the Girl Toy category. The Troop Groovy Girls were introduced in late 2006, inspired by the Girl Scouts, and are now quite a hot number in collectibles. They definitely show that all kinds of cool girls are Brownies and Girl Scouts! Starting at about $15 , better get them while you can! (at Amazon)
11. Boy Toy of the Year: Transformers Movie Deluxe Figures (Hasbro, Inc.)
Transformers was a tremendous box office success, and its toy character "figures come cars" are carrying on the family name. The newest one, Transformers Movie Deluxe Figures Wave 10 Revision 1, pictured above, isn't even out yet! There are similar packaged figures available for around $99, and that seems the best buy; however individual personalities like the 2008 Camaro that turns into a Bumblebee can be purchased separately. The Transformers are also collectibles.
Now, let's get our toys and play!
by Anonymous
my favorite toy is the ipod nano
by Anonymous
None of these toys were very good, sorry to say.
by Anonymous
Bilibo...hands down is the best thing for a 1-8 yr. old. Use is limited only by child's imagination. I'm surprised it's not on the list.
by Anonymous
wow what kewl toyz 4 2008 it rox my sox
by Anonymous
Get U R kid an Apple Ipod Chromatic they will Luv it
they rock get 1


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Last week, the de Blasio administration released a report with findings from the review and recommendations for the city's 911 system.
The city had been using the Unified Call Taker (UCT) system, which directs emergency calls to an NYPD call taker, who then takes down all relevant information before transferring the call to an FDNY dispatcher.
The system led to issues with how quickly calls were responded to, inaccurate information and repeat questions being asked between the call taker and the emergency responder.
This added up to an inefficient emergency response system, and in early June, politicians called for an overhaul of UCT in favor of connecting residents directly to emergency responders.
At that point, the mayor ordered for an ECTP review. Two of the biggest problems discovered and recommended for improvement were the over-reliance on external consultants and the lack of communication and input from stakeholder agencies.
"We have identified the problems that have long plagued the ECTP, and we're committed to taking the necessary corrective action to ensure the program is brought back on track, within our means and ahead of schedule," de Blasio said.
"This includes eliminating costs and consultants that are not delivering the progress we need, breaking down barriers of communications among city agencies and developing a new approach that allows various phases of the project to move forward when they are ready," said de Blasio.
Among the recommendations for the structure of ECTP are the re-establishment of the city as the program lead, a job that is currently held by the contracted Systems Integrator; the inclusion of stakeholder agencies like the NYPD, FDNY, Department of Information Technology (DoITT) and the Office of Citywide Emergency Communications (OCEC) in the management and execution of the program; and the cutting of consultant costs by replacing them with city employees.
The review of ECTP was led by DoITT Commissioner Anne Roest, who said the city will regain control of the program and fix the necessary components "within the established budget and sooner than anticipated."
FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said the revisions to the system, which will fast-track the FDNY's Computer Aided Dispatch system, are "vitally important."
"Hitting the refresh button on plans to rebuild the city's new 911 system was not only a wise decision, but has now provided a clearly defined path forward with collaboration from all stakeholder agencies," Nigro said. "It is critically important that we get this right."

subset: commoncrawl


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Tony Meloni, one of the first candidates to enter the Democratic race for Peter Vallone Jr.'s City Council seat, announced he is dropping out.
Meloni confirmed he is ending his campaign to represent District 22 in Astoria so he can focus on his family and work in the community.
"It was a really hard decision," Meloni said. "I have gone back and forth so many times. I absolutely love this community, but a person has to know their limitations and I decided to re-focus and reevaluate."
His positions in the community include chair of Community Board 1's public safety committee, vice-president of the Astoria Civic Association, founder of New York Anti-Crime and executive director of the Immigration Advocacy Services, an outreach center in Astoria.
Even though he is dropping out of the race, Meloni said he will remain highly active in the community to make sure focus is not lost on important issues. In regard to a future City Council run, he said he does not rule anything out, but wants to take it a step at a time.
Current candidates for District 22 are Democrats Costa Constantinides and attorney John Ciafone, Republican Daniel Peterson, Green Party candidate Lynn Serpe and Independent candidate Danielle De Stefano.


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Man Sentenced to Jail After Teasing Disabled Girl
By Christina Lopez |
An Ohio man faces one month of jail time for teasing and taunting a 1o-year-old girl with cerebral palsy after a video of the incident went viral.
We looked on Prison Pass, a site with detailed information on all prison location that on Nov. 27, Judge John A. Poulos of the Canton Municipal Court sentenced 43-year-old William Bailey to 29 days in jail. The amount is initially based on a bail schedule but may change to a higher or lower amount based on the circumstances of the case. Once an amount has been set, your bail bond agent will determine the bail amount that you need to be released. The bail bond is a small portion or percentage of the total bail set by the Judge. You then pay the bail agent to secure your release. You will get the additional info here regarding to bail bond amount calculator.
The taunting occurred on Sept. 26, when Tricia Knight and her mother-in-law were waiting for her children's bus to return from school. Knight's three children, including 10-year-old Hope, attend Walker Elementary with Bailey's 9-year-old son, Joseph.
What happened next was caught on an iPod camera by Knight's mother-in-law, Marie Prince.
William Bailey "was dragging his leg and patting his arm across his chest to pick his son Joseph up," said Knight. "I asked him to please stop doing this. 'My daughter can see you.' He then told his son to walk like the R-word."
The next day Knight posted the video on her Facebook page while Prince uploaded the video they called "Bus Stop Ignorance" to YouTube. Within days, the video went viral.
The Knight family has lived next door to the Baileys for the past two years, and the incident at the bus stop, according to Knight, is the culmination of rising tensions and intimidation against her kids.
In the days that followed the taunting at the bus stop, the Knight family filed a complaint with Canton City prosecutors.
Jennifer Fitzsimmons, the chief assistant city prosecutor for this case, says in the three years she's been in this role, she's never seen anything like this.
"I think when we look at cases, there's case law out there regarding people commenting and gesturing against race and religion. But when there's nothing out there regarding disabilities, it took me a little bit longer to come to a decision."
After Fitzsimmons reviewed the Knight family's complaint, a police report based on a phone call from the Knight family, and the video captured by Prince, she decided to press charges.
"It was settled without Hope having to relive what she saw and how it impacted her," said Fitzsimmons. "I think the trial could have been just as traumatic as the event itself."
Bailey, who works as a truck driver, was charged twice. He was originally charged for aggravated menacing, a misdemeanor of the first degree. In this charge, the victim was Knight, an incident she says took place the same day as the bus stop scene.
Bailey, she said, "was swinging a tow chain on his porch, saying he was going to choke me until I stopped twitching. I sent my kids with my mother-in-law to leave with them. My husband called the sheriff."
In Ohio, a menacing charge is a misdemeanor fourth degree, which carries a maximum of 30 days in jail.
The second original charge, for the bus stop incident, was disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. A disorderly conduct is a minor misdemeanor and carries no jail time.
Although Bailey's sentencing technically reflects the charges brought by his actions toward Knight, Hope's mother, Fitzsimmons explains how the plea deal enabled the sentence to cover his actions toward Hope.
"Because the menacing misdemeanor charge was directed toward Hope's mother, and they're all interrelated, the judge took into account all the actions of Mr. Bailey and the entire Holcomb family," said Fitzsimmons.
Bailey "entered a plea of 'no contest' to a menacing charge and to disorderly conduct," said Fitzsimmons. His sentence will go into effect on Jan. 2.
Judge Poulos required Bailey to pay $400 in court costs as well as other fees. He was given a credit for one day which is why his sentence is 29 days and not the maximum 30.
Following the Nov. 27 hearing, Bailey's attorney, John R. Giua, released a statement and apology on Bailey's behalf, according to the The Repository, an online newspaper for Stark County, Ohio.
"I don't think this sentence will change things because it hasn't so far," said Knight.
Knight says living next door to the Baileys affects their everyday lives.
Just last summer, said Knight, 9-year-old Joseph Bailey came over to play with Knight's children and brought over a pocket knife, threatening to "cut [Hope] up," followed by name calling. That harassment continued into the school year.
Since the bus stop incident, Knight has spoken with the bus driver and the school's principal. Knight now drives Hope to school every day while her other two children ride another bus to school.
Hope was born 29 weeks premature after Knight was involved in a head-on auto collision. When she was born, Hope weighed only two pounds, 12 ounces, which caused several medical problems resulting in two brain surgeries. Knight says her daughter fought for her life the first two years.
As for whether this case presents a new precedent in Ohio is another debate.
"I don't know if it sets a precedent so much maybe as it begins a conversation between people," said Fitzsimmons. "I think conversation starts progress, and I think if it can bring something else to light, it would be good."


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On comixology.com you'll find our growing collection of comics, graphic novels, and manga. Previously purchased books will continue to be available in "My Books."Go to comixology.com or continue to www.comixology.eu
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Architects to Sandy Hook panel: No school design can eliminate risk of violence
HARTFORD -- Architects told a panel set up by Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy after the Newtown school shootings that bulletproof glass and other measures can make schools safer, but there's no way to totally eliminate the risk of violence.
The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission heard testimony Friday as it compiles recommendations to the governor on school security, mental health issues and gun violence prevention.
Glastonbury architect Glenn Gollenberg said reinforced glass can be costly -- starting at $3,000 to $4,000 per classroom -- and communities need to decide how much they're willing to spend on security.
Commissioner member and psychiatrist Ezra Griffith questioned the need for expensive security measures when mass school shootings are so infrequent.
A gunman killed 20 students and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School Dec. 14.


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I grew up in a "women don't sweat" type of family. My dad did not watch sports on television and neither did my brother. The closest we got to physical activity was once, my brother and I, played badminton. We did not go to the beach. We would do a 'walk' on our vacation. It certainly wasn't a hike. I was hardly allowed to ride my bike because I might get hit by a car. Mom was a bit overprotective, but, then again, I never got hit by a car.
I was last picked to play ball and I hated gym, so when I started the Body for Life program, I was thoroughly amazed at how good it felt to lift weights. Me, can't hit a ball with a stick, me and I love weight lifting.
I had worked hard for nine months, alternating weight lifting and the treadmill, in 2005, and I lost (drumroll please) not one ounce; muscles weigh more than fat. I did lose two dress sizes however, and I felt better than I ever felt: weak ankles, gone; floating knee caps, gone; weak arms, gone; aching back, gone. I could throw around clay with the best of them. I was strong and I knew I would never be weak again.
The main reason I had gotten into this is that I was watching my mother deteriorate and I said, to myself, that I was not going to go down that road. That road included weakness, illness, resting to walk down a hall and instability, and I was strong.
In 2005, there were no commercials on television telling a woman that one reason she is tired could be her heart. I could have been the poster 'woman' for that commercial. I woke up one morning so exhausted I couldn't lift weights, or run. Just overnight, I was exhausted. I could barely walk, and over the next two years, I got so bad that I could not make it to open the door for irritating Chihuahua to go outside.
"Why didn't you go to the doctor, you ask." I did. I didn't have insurance though so the A.N.P. (some type of nursing practitioner) that I got to see checked my thyroid four times over the next two years and told me I was "just under stress." Of course, she never even hinted at a treatment for the "just stress" that was slowly killing me.
Then, the doctor's office called me in and told me not to return for three months because I was "just under stress." There's a lot more to the story, like blood pressure being twenty points different in each arm and a cardiologist who was pretty sure he knew what was wrong but his hands were tied by the corporation he worked for. So, when they told me not to return to their office, I came home and announced, "They have sent me home to die."
Then, on the internet, I found the wonderful people of St. Francis hospital. I went into their free cardiac clinic and two hours later was seeing a cardiologist, who scheduled me for a cardiac catherization. It took a total of seven days before I was having emergency open heart surgery. I had a spasming artery to my heart (could it have been caused by stress? Possibly) I also had 70% blockage, but they said that could have waited.
When you don't have insurance, you do not have rehabilitation. So, it has taken me two years but, as a birthday present for myself, I finally felt strong enough to start Body for Life again.
I recently read some negative things about this program, but I am here to tell you there is no pressure. There is no one saying, "you can't get anywhere, if you don't use forty pound weights." Just the opposite, is the case. I am starting off with two pound weights and actually I have also had to modify the program for now. Last time, I did all the reps right from the beginning. I have to listen to my body, so that I have the energy to do other things. It is a great program and I love it.
I am literally using two pounds on the upper body and one set of reps. I went up to three pounds a couple of weeks ago and my rib cage hurt so much that I went back down. I am also eating smaller portions and healthier food. It all goes hand in hand, folks.
Since February 2, I have lost eleven pounds, and I'm loving that part too. I'm sweating and I'm loving it all.


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AT LAST… your beach, your view, your home — The Cottages at Romar in Orange Beach, Alabama. Combining luxury with warmth and privacy with community, these exceptionally crafted homes are designed to live up to your dreams. And since they feature certified fortified construction, you can pass this home down from one generation to the next. Come to Orange Beach and discover the home you've always imagined.
The Cottages at Romar creates a community that honors the Orange Beach heritage of beachfront family vacations. Separated by the protected dunes, the Gulf of Mexico patiently laps at the feet of these astonishingly charming Southern homesteads nestled in a classic island environment. With a total of only 29 lots, you are in a community, just not an overwhelmingly large one. The first homes were built in the fall of 2013, setting the bar for more stunning homes to follow. There are homesites and homes under construction for sale. Relax…and take a tour. There are still several lots for sale and others are currently for rent.
You can find more information on each lot on our interactive site plan.
Please explore some of the McCollough Architecture, Inc. base plans to get a preview of this stylish new community...
Imagine yourself here as either a renter or home owner. Old style beach living right on the Gulf... Unique and comfortable on pristine beaches. View Gallery


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1717 S. Chestnut Ave.
Fresno, California 93702-4709
Since 1944, Fresno Pacific has integrated rigorous academics and faith into a comprehensive learning journey.
800-660-6089 | Ask a question
Degree Completion & Graduate
559-453-3690 | Ask a question
Biblical Seminary
800-251-6227 | Ask a question
Campus Life at Fresno Pacific offers fun, vibrant activities to help you get connected as a new Sunbird. Start developing traditions together with friends
Fresno Pacific is a nationally recognized university nestled in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley. Our expert faculty are dedicated to student success.
Our music, drama and visual art programs cover the spectrum from classical to contemporary. Ensembles and activities are open to students from all majors and levels of experience.


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Computer Repair in Redditch From Your Local, Trusted Experts
Are you looking for local computer repair in Redditch? Well have no fear, Jase is here!
Helping homes and businesses in and near Redditch, Jase has many years of experience in troubleshooting and solving computer problems. He has an excellent reputation locally for being dependable, reliable and trustworthy.
Our No Fix No Fee Guarantee
Computer Repair Man promise a no fix no fee guarantee, meaning if we cannot successfully solve your problem, we won't charge you a penny! What's more, we do not charge a call out fee within our local area and can often provide a same day service.
We provide fixed cost repairs for all computers dropped into us or a fair hourly rate for on site services.
Computer Repair in Redditch – Your Computer Problems Solved
Get in touch today and see how we can help you solve your computer problems. Some of the services we can help you with locally include:
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Speak To Us Today & Let Us Solve Your Computer Problems
For a local, reliable & friendly computer repair and maintenance service, call our Redditch computer repair hotline today on
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All Penn State students, faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to sign up for PSUAlert, the University's new emergency alerts system, at http://psualert.psu.edu/. As announced earlier this year, Penn State is transitioning to PSUAlert, away from the current emergency messaging service known as PSUTXT. The new service will feature enhanced messaging capabilities and more robust integration with the University's other communications platforms. This change will take place at all Penn State campuses, with the exception of Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, Pa.
SIGN UP NOW: psualert.psu.edu
Through June 30, Penn State will send emergency alerts using both the outgoing PSUTXT system and the new PSUAlert system. On July 1, PSUTXT will be decommissioned and PSUAlert will become the University's sole emergency messaging system. Throughout the transition, multiple communications are being sent to the University community and all current PSUTXT subscribers.
To ensure the fastest possible delivery of critical information to Penn State campus communities in the event of an emergency, the new PSUAlert system is reserved for students, faculty and staff. Students can add parents to their PSUAlert accounts if they wish (for details visit the PSUAlert FAQs), and alert messages are widely available on Twitter and Facebook. Also, all students, faculty and staff will now receive alerts for their home campus at their Penn State-issued email address.
The new service features enhanced messaging capabilities, including the continued ability for enrollees to receive alerts by text message and email; the addition of phone-based voice alerts; and more robust integration with campus Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Those who have further questions are encouraged to visit the PSUAlert FAQs page. Additional questions can be sent to firstname.lastname@example.com.
For media queries only, contact Reidar Jensen at firstname.lastname@example.com or call Penn State News and Media Relations at 814-865-7517.


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The Fulton County Commissioners have filled a long-vacant post, but unfortunately for Fayette residents, their village administrator was taken to fill it.
Amy Metz will soon begin working as the grants coordinator and marketing specialist for Fulton County.
Metz was hired as Fayette village administrator in April 2008 on a part-time basis and changed to full-time status a year ago. Metz said she wasn't looking for a new job, but was approached by county administrator Vond Hall about filling the vacant slot.
It was a tough decision to make, she said, but it was made easier with the prospect of daytime meetings only, giving her more time to spend with her daughter. Her village administrator post, on the other hand, requires an array of council and committee meetings in the evening, along with other miscellaneous gatherings.
In her new post, Metz will be expected to prepare state and federal grant applications; monitor pending legislation effecting economic development; coordinate marketing efforts; and provide technical assistance to governmental entities seeking grants;
She will also assist the county administrator in advertising for bids; attend progress meetings and coordinate change orders for projects; conduct public hearings and other duties.
Hall said the commissioners chose Metz because of her knowledge of government operations, her experience in speaking and writing to groups, her ability to coordinate contracts and leases, her experience in supervising and evaluating personnel and her ability to coordinate public relations.


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once upon a life time it's about Harry styles finding...
The Best year171186
- by email@example.com
- Rating:
- Published: 9 Feb 2014
- Updated: 18 Apr 2014
- Status: In Progress
It's about Harry styles and Alexis finding how about much they really love Eachother and to do what it takes to find and be with your one and only true love.
Join MovellasFind out what all the buzz is about. Join now to start sharing your creativity and passion
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text: By Rochelle / May 20, 2020 Share this...FacebookPinterestTwitterLinkedin 97047368_641265496458726_918034669516095488_o Share this...FacebookPinterestTwitterLinkedin Categories: Rochelle Manila | Singapore | Tokyo Be the first to write a comment. Leave a ReplyCancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Notify me of new posts by email. Fresh "Date A Live" Spin-off "Date A Bullet" Unveils New PV, Out 13th November New "Kimetsu Tamagotchi" Collection Teased! Stay Safe with the Char Aznable and Zabi Family Exclusive "CHARA-MASK" "STRICT-G" Celebrates 25th Anniversary of "Gundam Wing" with New Collection "Pokemon Cafe" Tokyo and Osaka Unveil Exclusive Halloween Sweets! Add These "Yurucamp" Camping Essentials to Your Collection! Chibi-style "Jujutsu Kaisen" Spin-off "Juju Sanpo" Announced "Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It" S2 Announced! Popular Thai BL Drama "2gether" Gets Japanese Manga Adaptation "C3AFA TOKYO ON-LINE" Happening This Weekend 17th and 18th October!


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First Look: Vessel's Reincarnation in Seattle, WA
Co-owners Jim Romdall and Clark Niemeyer found a new spot for their trend-setting craft cocktail bar, a year and a half after the previous incarnation had to close due to lease issues. Seattle's cocktail climate has changed since Vessel first opened in 2006. "We were fighting to change the public's mind," Romdall says, describing that oh-so-long-ago time when $10 cocktails caused gasps and the best bars were known for their excellent rum and Cokes. "We won," he points out, referring to the myriad of places in town where you can now get drinks of the quality that once only Vessel served.
Nobody's resting on trend-setting laurels, though, as the new Vessel has big ideas to roll out. There's no set menu, because there's no set bartender. Twenty-five bartenders rotate through once a month, bringing with them their own set of specialties.
To assist them, there's "The Lab," a street-visible area near the kitchen, which houses a Clinebell Ice Block Maker, which produces 300-pound crystal-clear blocks of ice, as well as ice-breaking tools, including a chainsaw, a bandsaw, and a giant hook. Other parts of the lab are dedicated to making ingredients for each of the bartenders: a world of syrups, tinctures, infusions, foams and "any other crazy whimsies," says Romdall.
Romdall admits that it's a struggle to keep the rotating bartender schedule organized, but he's okay with that in order to offer something that no other bar has. Their also expanding their food program (including serving lunch), and making tap beer available for those not in the mood for a cocktail. "We want to be a fun bar," Romdall said of their attempt to be more well-rounded, "but it's still the same people and same philosophy: to serve good drinks."
Check out the cocktails in the slideshow above »
624 Olive Way, Seattle WA, 98101 (map)
More Seattle-Area Drinking
First Look: Essex in Seattle, WA
Behind the Scenes at Elysian's New Brewery in Seattle, WA
Behind the Scenes at Hale's Ales, Seattle, WA
Behind the Scenes at Boundary Bay Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Behind the Scenes at Pike Brewing Company, Seattle, WA
Seattle: New Classic Cocktails at The Zig Zag Cafe
Where to Drink Coffee in Seattle
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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An 'Autopsy' Of Detroit Finds Resilience In A Struggling City
To some, Detroit may be a symbol of urban decay; but to journalist Charlie LeDuff, it's home. In Detroit: An American Autopsy, he says the city's heart beats on. "We're still here trying to reconstruct the great thing we once had," he tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies.
Related Topics
February 11, 2013
Guest: Charlie LeDuff
TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. To many people, Detroit is a symbol of urban decay. In the new book "Detroit: An American Autopsy," our guest, journalist Charlie LeDuff, writes: It is awful here, but I believe that Detroit is America's city. It was the vanguard of our way up just as it is the vanguard of our way down, and one hopes, the vanguard of our way up again.
LeDuff grew up in a blue collar suburb of Detroit. He spent 12 years at the New York Times, where he shared a Pulitzer Prize in 2001. LeDuff did color stories and investigative pieces on the city's politicians, cops, firefighters and struggling citizens for the Detroit News.
He's now a TV reporter for the local Fox affiliate, where the local website, Deadline Detroit, wrote that LeDuff has, quote, thrown out the rules of how to be a TV reporter. He doesn't comb his hair every day and almost never dresses up. He stares into the camera and makes funny faces. On camera he wears sunglasses and talks with a swagger, referring to the mayor as Dave and the county executive as Bob, unquote. LeDuff spoke with FRESH AIR contributor Dave Davies.
DAVE DAVIES, HOST: Well, Charlie LeDuff, welcome to FRESH AIR.
CHARLIE LEDUFF: I've always wanted to be here. Thanks.
DAVIES: Well, it's good to have you. You know, I know a lot of journalists, and practically every one of them would give anything for a job at the New York Times. You were there a lot of years. You shared in a Pulitzer Prize. You walked away from the Times to do freelancing and eventually return to Detroit and work at the Detroit News. Why?
LEDUFF: Well, first of all, let me correct you there. I was not a journalist. I'm a reporter, and the difference is a journalist can type without looking. And I had a good run there at the New York Times. I loved it. I'm a Times man, I'm always going to be a Times man, but I kind of got tired. It's a difficult place. It's a hard place to let your personality and flair come into the copy. They're known for other things.
And actually I had my first daughter. I was stationed in the Los Angeles bureau of the New York Times. I covered the West, and it was great. I crossed the desert with migrants, I went to the Bunny Ranch outside of Vegas with my wife and an old lady photographer. It was a pretty cool life.
But then we had the kid, and I noticed something. I noticed that I didn't belong in L.A. I had a daughter. We didn't belong to anybody. We weren't connected to anyone. Just to get to a park, you had to cross two major boulevards. And I pictured my daughter at 14 with a halter top and blue mascara walking up and down Melrose, and I said this is just not where we're from, and I thought that we should, my wife and I - she's also from Detroit - that we should just cash it in and come home, so our daughter would have some root and some structure and know her grandparents and her 20 cousins and her aunts and uncles.
And I don't regret it in the least.
DAVIES: So you'd grown up in the Detroit area and spent a lot of time there, and in some respects this question really deals with the whole subject of the book. But how was the city different when you got back?
LEDUFF: When I was coming up and working in my mom's flower shop and driving around and delivering flowers - this was the '80s. It was a very large city, it was 1.2 million people, and crack cocaine had just hit, and it was scary. It was rough. It was murderous.
And when I got back, 15 or 20 years later, maybe 25 now that I think about it, it was empty. It wasn't scary, it was sort of like in many respects living in Chernobyl in some neighborhoods. No one is here in the places that I remember - the place where I got my first kiss, near the canals, you know, near the Grosse Pointe border. All that's gone.
And I looked, and I thought to myself one day: What happened here? What happened? And so this is not a book about ruin porn or empty buildings. This book is dedicated to those of us who live here in the industrial Midwest, specifically Detroit and its inner-ring suburbs. We're still here trying to reconstruct the great thing we once had.
And so it changed in the sense that my mom's flower shop is in pieces. My great grandfather's house is in pieces. And to find your past is sort of difficult.
DAVIES: So you worked at the Detroit News, the daily paper, and a lot of the stuff in the book are some of the remarkable stories that you did about firemen, about murder victims, about a lot of people, but you also covered politicians. And I thought we would talk about one of them.
When you got there, I mean this - the mayor's career was aflame with a corruption and sex scandal, that's Kwame Kilpatrick. But a city councilwoman caught your eye, Monica Conyers, and I've marked a little passage of the book I'd like you to read about her. Maybe you want to just set that up, tell us who she is and what her entre was into Detroit politics.
LEDUFF: Monica Conyers, raised in the neighborhood, very saucy, married to basically her grandfather, Congressman John Conyers, not, you know, not bloodwise, but he's two generations older than she is. And he at the time was the head of the Judiciary Committee.
She gets wound up in a kickback and bribery scandal, and we the public are paying for her lawyer when her husband is one of the most powerful men in Washington. So when I got into town, she was just making headlines left and right, getting into bar - she becomes city councilwoman, runs on his name, becomes city councilwoman. Getting into bar fights.
DAVIES: And was not yet into legal trouble then, right? Right. That is to say, corruption issues.
LEDUFF: She was, but we the public didn't exactly know about it at the time. I certainly didn't when I blew into town.
DAVIES: Why don't you read this passage, and this is you, Charlie LeDuff, coming into Detroit, back to your hometown, and you see this public figure, and your reaction to her.
LEDUFF: Monica was my kind of woman, at least as far as the reporter in me goes. She was a self-absorbed, self-serving diva, a honeypot and a loudmouth who let a bit power go to her id. It didn't matter to me if she spent tens of thousands of dollars on overseas trips paid for by the city's pension fund. It didn't matter to me if she mishandled the business of the poorest citizens in the country. It wasn't my problem. It was my job.
She typified the politicians of the current American landscape, an overfed buffoon who fattened herself at the public trough while the ribs began to show on the gaunt body politic. And in that capacity she was nobody special. Chicago had its Governor Rod Blagojevich, Newark had its Mayor Sharpe James, San Diego had its Congressman Duke Cunningham, and Youngstown, Ohio had its Congressman James Traficant. Clowns for sure.
But Monica's makeup was better. She was the perfect political caricature wrapped up in a real human being, and one thing about clowns: clowns sell copy. I started keeping notes on her. Monica was fascinating, the big-mouthed girl from a broken home. Her father had a record for breaking and entering, her brother for robbery. Conyers was susceptible to violent outbursts.
She was a drunk in rush-hour traffic, a wreck in the waiting. I could have been related to her. I waited for the moment, and Monica delivered.
DAVIES: OK, that's Charlie LeDuff reading from his new book "Detroit: An American Autopsy." Before we talk more about Monica, why do you say you could have been related to her?
LEDUFF: Because, you know, my ma has been married three times. I've got half-brothers and step-sisters, and I'm known to be a little crazy, I think you'll find that out in the book.
DAVIES: So you say you waited for the moment, and Monica delivered. How did she deliver?
LEDUFF: Well, it begins with Monica getting into a fight with the city council president, Ken Cockrel, Jr., who is balding and has his ears low on his head. And she starts screaming at him, calling him Shrek. And he says, Shrek? She said, that's right, Shrek. And he says, Madam, I will table the meeting. And she said, go ahead, do it, baby, do it. And it got ridiculous, and it made headlines in this town.
And I got the idea to bring some middle school kids, some 12-year-olds, to the city council to sit down and talk with her. And she got in a fight with a 12-year-old, which she lost, and then she did a sit-down interview with me, and we re-enacted the Shrek incident, where I played her, and she played Ken Cockrel, Jr.
DAVIES: Well, I want to play a little bit of this.
LEDUFF: I'm glad.
DAVIES: It's a little long to play it all, but this was - you know, you now work in television, but this is when you were at the Detroit News, and this was a video I guess for their website. And what people can't see is that you open this, and you conduct the interview wearing a white dinner jacket.
DAVIES: And you're really mugging some reactions, kind of being very familiar with her. Let's listen to some of this piece.
LEDUFF: Hello, I'm Charlie LeDuff of the Detroit News, and this is your Detroit.
Monica Conyers, the colorful Detroit city councilwoman, has drawn heat in recent weeks for what some call outrageous behavior. She has threatened to shoot a witness, threatened to have another beaten up by her brothers, and called the balding city council president Shrek.
MONICA CONYERS: Grow up. Control your house, and you know how to treat other women better.
KENNETH COCKREL, JR.: You're the last one to talk.
CONYERS: I'm the first one to talk to you, Shrek.
LEDUFF: (Unintelligible) sat down with the Detroit News for this exclusive interview. You're a schoolteacher. I mean doesn't name-calling, fights like that make the city look like it's being run by schoolchildren?
CONYERS: Well, you know, probably to some, but I've seen worse. All I said was Shrek. I never said Shrek was bad or good. I just said Shrek. And it's kind of like being bullied. Do you know that when I was in elementary school, I was bullied a lot? Since I've been married to my husband, I've been bullied by women who thought they were going to marry my husband.
And so I'm just at a point, I'm just not going to take bullying anymore. I'm just not.
LEDUFF: As a councilmember, you have, apparently, threatened someone in a hearing....
CONYERS: In the pension board.
LEDUFF: With a gun.
CONYERS: Well, I did not threaten him with a gun.
LEDUFF: OK, you threatened to have someone beat up.
CONYERS: No, I did not.
LEDUFF: OK, you've been in a bar fight.
CONYERS: I was defending myself. And I was not a councilmember then. I was a private citizen.
LEDUFF: Are you concerned maybe some voters might consider you a nut?
CONYERS: Some people - no, that's the first time I've ever heard of that. Everything before now has been just about my temper, that people - allegedly that I have a temper.
LEDUFF: If you were a nut, if you were a nut, what kind of nut would you be? Pecan?
DAVIES: And that is our guest, our guest Charlie LeDuff. Some old memories there.
LEDUFF: (Unintelligible) awesome, man.
DAVIES: That's from a video that our guest, Charlie LeDuff, made when he was working at the Detroit News. He has a new book called "Detroit: An American Autopsy." Well, that's the kind of stuff that political reporters live for. And what's interesting about it is that when a public official loses their temper and says something stupid like calling a council president Shrek, the typical reaction is to issue a statement of apology and not talk about it.
She clearly took a different approach. Was it hard to get her to talk to you?
LEDUFF: Nope. Short answer, not at all. She loved to talk, and as you heard, it wasn't one incident, it was - I mean she ended up going to federal prison. So she was stealing, calling people Shrek, beating women up at a bar, on and on and on. In fact, when all of this went down, I called her to get a comment, and she - in her own voice she said - it's in the book, I forget the name, Teresa or Veronica.
She said no, Monica's not here. I said, Monica, this is your voice. No, it's not Monica, and she hung up. About two or three weeks later, I'm interviewing her again, and I'm outside having a cigarette, and she's standing nearby, and I called the number...
DAVIES: Her cell phone.
LEDUFF: Yeah, and she answers it. Monica, what is the matter with you? That's Detroit.
DAVIES: She ultimately went to prison for participation in some various corrupt activities. Have you maintained any contact with her?
LEDUFF: No, I tried to reach out. She went to Camp Cupcake, where Martha Stewart went. She went for - sentenced to three years. And I tried to get a hold of her. I made an offer to her people, I'll go pick her up, and we could road-trip it back, stay at the Motel 6, you know, I'll be there at the gates. And so how was it? You know, did you study the Bible?
But I didn't, and she's back in Detroit in a halfway house, you know, as part of her federal release. So I have heard sightings of her, but I have not physically seen her myself, and I'm looking forward to it. In fact, you know, I'd like to invite her to the book-reading. You know, I'll be doing events, Monica, just check them out online and just come - I've got a book for you.
DAVIES: You know, one of the things that I thought about as I was reading about your interactions with Monica Conyers and some of the other political figures in Detroit, is something I observed as a young reporter, which is that when you write a very tough story about a public official, you might think they'd be angry, and they might be, but a lot of them are then kind of like fascinated by you and are more inclined to return your calls and answer your questions.
It's kind of like they get slapped, and they think, ooh, that was interesting. Do you know what I'm talking about?
LEDUFF: I do. Well, you know, they sort of know that you're around, you're in the game, and you're not a marshmallow. You know, bland is not interesting, not only to the reader or the viewer but to the subject. And that's sort of why you see the videotapes, the sort of flair I put on it. You know, sometimes I'll appear on TV now in my underpants. Any way I can get you to listen, to get the power players' attention, to get people their information in a way that they're going to accept it.
So I think you're absolutely right: Once your subject knows that you're nails, then they're going to pick up that phone.
DAVIES: We're speaking with Charlie LeDuff. His new book is called "Detroit: An American Autopsy." We'll talk more after a short break. This is FRESH AIR.
DAVIES: If you're just joining us, we're speaking with Charlie LeDuff. He was a reporter for the New York Times for many years. He's now working in Detroit as a television reporter. His new book is called "Detroit: An American Autopsy."
You know, Detroit is a city where race is an issue in so many ways, and you were doing your reporter, perceived as a white guy, although as we learn in the book you're racial and ethnic background is a little more complicated. But you were clearly perceived as a white reporter asking very tough questions, giving it to African-American politicians.
And you know, any politician when under duress will reach for a lever(ph) and race is one of them. Did you have any particular approach to dealing with that, deflecting it, or whatever?
LEDUFF: In the interest of good, honest radio, no. You know what? When you grow up here, race is right under the surface. This is a Southern town - you know, basically built by Southerners, and we never had to deal with our legacy, our sins, the feelings we carry, because we were the North, and we didn't do that.
But I left here as a young man, and I grew up, you know, as a man, my formative years were in New York and Los Angeles. So I had time to confront myself, to discuss these things with myself, to compete with people in the wide, wide world, people of many origins and shades. And when I came home, I didn't give a damn. I'm just - you're a man, I'm a man; you're a woman, I'm a man. We're human beings. That doesn't play into this.
And if anybody wants it to be a factor, then live in your fantasyland, because that's not what I'm about. And I think that's the only way to deal with this legacy, this thing called race in America. You just have to be of the human race.
DAVIES: You did some great stories at the Detroit News, I mean both about high-ranking public officials and about people in communities, murder victims, firefighters - and in one compelling story a firefighter who died in an arson fire and the effort to catch the arsonist, which your stories played a role in. Why did you leave the Detroit News?
LEDUFF: I think newspapers were limiting. I think I had finally gotten to the point where - you know, I got to write in my style, but you just - I was done with it. It's very difficult. Newspaper articles, for someone who has never written one, is a Mensa exam. You know, I mean you have to research it, you have to formulate it, you have to, you know, fact-check.
There's no energy left by the time you're done. And I - this new thing called the Internet, you know, TV, I figured I could take that stuff I learned in newspapers, which was get the facts, get it right, double-check it, know what you're talking about, and then take it and create something more consumable.
Like for instance, Jon Stewart, "The Daily Show." Great show. What do they do? They take what the newspapers have created, dispense with the boringness of it, and get right to the point and simply say it. You know what I mean? They mock what's obvious. And newspapers still aren't ready to go there, to just say it.
There's this construct, equal credence to what you think the truth is and what's probably false, but they both get some stature. I just didn't want to do it anymore. I wanted to get - like you heard that Monica Conyers tape, I wanted to go there. I think that thing said as much about her as any newspaper profile is ever going to do.
DAVIES: Was it hard to get a job on television?
LEDUFF: Nope.
LEDUFF: I was at home writing this book in my underpants when the phone rang, and it was a guy named Huel Perkins - well, he's the uncle of Detroit. And he said: You want to come do some work for us? And I said I would love to. So a shout-out to Huel, and that's how it happened, just like that.
GROSS: Charlie LeDuff will continue his conversation with FRESH AIR contributor Dave Davies in the second half of the show. LeDuff's new book is called "Detroit: An American Autopsy." I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. Let's get back to the interview FRESH AIR contributor Dave Davies recorded with journalist Charlie LeDuff, author of the new book "Detroit: An American Autopsy." LeDuff writes: This a book about a rough town and a tough people during arguably some of the most historic and cataclysmic years in the American experience. It is about the future of America and our desperate efforts to save ourselves from it. He has some pretty unconventional ways of revealing what's going on in his hometown.
DAVIES: Anybody who does a little work on YouTube can find some great stuff that you've done, some real investigative reporting. There was one on a sludge hauler and his questionable connections and practices, which it has some terrific stuff and some very, very creative and funny things. But I thought we would listen to a bit of another piece of yours that got a lot of attention, where you decided to golf through the city of Detroit - an 18 mile course, where you were going to hit a ball, go there, play it and keep playing. Where did this idea come from?
LEDUFF: I think what it was, was my brothers had played golf like the Saturday before. And it was just one of those dog days summer mornings and I'm driving to work like, I need a story, I need a story. And I just think, because I was talking to my brothers about their golf game the previous day or before, I was so let me just golf the city. Let's just knock a ball through the whole entire city and see how empty it is and who is out there and we did. We did, it took two days, 100 degrees, 18 miles.
DAVIES: Let's listen to a little bit of that report.
LEDUFF: Ah. Right from the get go, I'm realizing this here might be the stupidest idea I've ever had. It's 100 degrees, I'm wearing black, and I can't golf. But I'm committed, because they're talking of reinventing this city.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Seven miles.
LEDUFF: What does that mean with millions in budget cuts? What does the city even really look like, block-by-block? Who lives here? What do they want and what do they need? Has anybody asked them? Besides, how many cities are so empty you can take a full-on swing?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: That's awesome.
LEDUFF: Right away or run into trouble. I lost my ball in the weeds on Robinwood Street. This lady lost her daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: ...trying to kill herself.
LEDUFF: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: No shoes on. She's in one of them free houses.
LEDUFF: What is she doing?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: She's killing herself.
LEDUFF: How do you know?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Because she took all the pills I own.
DAVIES: And that's Charlie LeDuff from his - one of his TV reports in Detroit where he's now a reporter. He has a new book called "Detroit: An American Autopsy." In that case, you're whacking your ball through a semi-abandoned neighborhood and there's a woman who's trying to find her daughter who she says is going to take all her pills and kill herself. What became of the daughter? Do you know?
LEDUFF: Yeah. They found her. I had a golf game, man. You know, I couldn't be there all day, you know, I got to make 18 miles.
LEDUFF: Oh by the way, I set a course record, 2,525 strokes. I dare any of your listeners to beat that. OK. But anyway, I am a human. That woman could've been my aunt. My sister was that kind of girl that, you know, went missing, so I care. So we - I flagged down some cops, we called some that I knew, because, you know man, at some point you're not a reporter anymore. I don't know about this I have to maintain my objectivity, I'm a human being. So, called a few guys. They found her. She wasn't dead. She wasn't even high. And happy ending to that story. So, and we moved on.
DAVIES: You said when we were talking earlier that you would appear in your underwear to get us to watch. You want tell us why you were in your underwear for a story?
LEDUFF: Oh, let me say, a - oh, OK. Well, there was a judge here, very - son of a very famous judge, and he had done a Congressman Weiner deal, which he was texting nude photos of himself to female bailiffs. And I went to interview him and he invited me into his chambers. And I said is this you? And he says - very famous, he says - hot dog. Yup. That's me. No shame in my game. Well, turns out there was some shame in his game. After he was investigated and censured, he took up with a woman that had a case before him and he was helping the woman manipulate the case. He got her pregnant. He wanted her to have the abortion. It all blows up here. And I come to find out last month that the man is still getting paid $12,000 a month while they investigate him and decide to throw him off the bench or not, $12,000 a month. This is outrageous, so I go to third circuit court in the front on a very cold day, maybe 20 degrees, and I take my pants off and walk into frame and, you know, explain the severity of the situation. And why did I do that? To show the people that I felt this is completely outrageous and ridiculous. And I don't know a better way to do it than, you know, the naked judge and me showing up half naked in front of the courthouse because that's what a mockery this has all become. And to be honest with you, I came home, you asked me what it looked like, it's a mess. I want it fixed. My colleagues on the other side of this glass want it fixed. We want it changed for our children and our grandchildren and in the end, that's what I'm going to do - whether I got to take my pants off, whatever it takes, I want it changed.
DAVIES: You know, Detroit has become such a symbol of urban decay. And, you know, people have used the term ruin porn to describe folks who come to gawk at the state of the city, you know, crumbling factories and abandoned housing and corrupt politicians and its struggling citizens. And no doubt, a lot of Detroit residents resent that. And I wonder, do you resent it, and do you worry that some of your reporting which, you know, shows the hard side of the city, plays into it?
LEDUFF: It doesn't bother me. I don't care. I don't care what people think of us or me. We're busy living. Do what you want. And, look, people go to Rome to stare at the ruin porn. OK. It is a very fascinating place to look at. It's difficult to live in it, and basically, you see, the pain's not over. It hurts because that factory is where my dad was working. That's why it's hard. Now as far as what I do, when they say ruin porn they're talking about empty, abandoned structures. My work has to do with living, breathing people and the difficult task of getting through this moment - which we will - and building a future. So no, I don't look at it as ruin porn at all. This is a document of us getting ourselves back together. And I think Detroit's much better positioned to succeed in the future than most other big American cities.
DAVIES: Charlie LeDuff's book is called "Detroit: An American Autopsy," and we'll talk some more after a break.
This is FRESH AIR.
DAVIES: If you're just joining us, we're speaking with Charlie LeDuff. He worked at The New York Times and at The Detroit News. He's now an innovative TV reporter for Fox 2 in Detroit. And he has a book called "Detroit: An American Autopsy."
You write a fair amount about your family in this book. You want to just describe a bit about the neighborhood you grew up in and what kind of family you had, what kind of community?
LEDUFF: Like I said, my mom's been married three times so we moved around. But I'll just get to the point in the book. I grew up blue collar suburbs, about two miles from the city limits of Detroit on a very busy intersection. My mom worked very, very long days, 16 hour days in a flower shop on the east side of Detroit, commuting every day. Her husband, my stepfather at the time, he sort of freelanced being a dad sometimes and that one came apart. So it was five of us all the time, latch key kids, just trying to, you know, hold on. We weren't raised in the ghetto by any means. We had books in our home. We had religion. We had dinner at six until I was about nine years old and the dinner stopped, and then things started to sort of fall apart.
DAVIES: Was that 'cause your mom was working nights?
LEDUFF: Yeah. So it's a toxic mix, I think - no father, mother working, young teenagers looking after children. It's not a good recipe for success. Although, we all are successes in our own right, and I'm very proud to be from my family.
DAVIES: And I know you had some wild years as a youngster, but went to school, right, got into journalism, and you were...
LEDUFF: Yeah, I made, I was the only one of my siblings who graduated high school, you know, by the time I was 18. My brother went back after his military service and got his college degree. But yeah, I was - I got lucky. I really did. I wasn't working in a screw factory or, nothing wrong with that but, you know, if you've ever been in one it's not a nice place to work and, you know, I don't stock beer shelves, which is cool but if you ever stocked a beer shelf it's a hard thing to look at for the length of your life and that's kind of what we have left in America, I think. We really blew it.
DAVIES: You say you were lucky.
LEDUFF: Yeah.
DAVIES: In what way? I mean what - why were you able to finish college and...
LEDUFF: I think - I think when my mom was going through that second divorce I was not a female like my sister, I was not young like my brothers. I was, I don't know, about 14, so I was sort of formed - if you know what I'm saying. I wasn't doing drugs, you know, I was turned off by them, watching my sister and her crowd. I had a good group of friends, so it just, the stars just aligned for me where I had a support group, you know, and my sister didn't. And my brothers were young and, I think, hurt a little bit by the circumstance, but we're all really close to our Ma because we realize, now, who she was and what she was doing. She was, you know, she was being everything, everything. And so I got off to college like my mom wanted me to.
DAVIES: Your sister Nicole is a painful story, here. Do you want to talk about her as a young person and tell us what happened?
LEDUFF: You read it. Ask me something, man. That's, you're asking me.
LEDUFF: You know?
DAVIES: What are your memories of her as a teenager?
LEDUFF: She was beautiful. Really a gorgeous girl, you know, like an oval face and high cheekbones and long brunette hair, and every boy dreamed of her. And she was wild. She hung out with older boys. They did a lot of dope when mom was gone at the flower shop. My mom had a very big heart, and so that crowd was a lot of runaways, so we always had somebody staying over, somebody sleeping out front in their car. And something happened to my sister. She just got lost to the streets. She hooked part time, you know, sometimes as a prostitute, and then she'd come out of her stupor, and she'd clean up, and then she'd serve, you know, eggs and bacon to men.
And my sister wasn't about that. You know, I mean I think she just that wasn't going to be her life, and that has to hurt because then what else does she know? You know, like I can't make this, this doesn't fulfill me. I don't have any skills, and then she'd fall into depression and go back out to the street - and eventually they killed her, eventually they killed her. And the place where she died, that's the one place on planet Earth I - you know, I've been to war zones, I've - like I told you, I was in the desert, I've been to five continents by myself - I could never go back to that corner. Just hurt.
DAVIES: Well, you describe in the book, how you would drive many blocks away just to avoid the neighborhood where she died. And we'll just say she died in a traffic accident after a night of partying, I guess. But you saw it as the result of the life that she had led. You describe, um...
LEDUFF: You want to hear how she died? She got into a car with a strange man and he was doing 80 down a residential street, and it's basically like kidnapping, as I see it. And she jumped out, jumped right out of the car going 80 right into a tree.
DAVIES: There's a...
LEDUFF: And, you know, right where that tree's that.
DAVIES: You know...
LEDUFF: I visit that tree. I visit that tree now. I'm over it.
DAVIES: There's a touching story in the book of your mother, after the death of your sister, Nicole, wanting to come to terms with it and see that place. Do you want - can you describe that moment?
LEDUFF: When we went to the bar?
DAVIES: Yeah.
LEDUFF: Can I say something to you, brother, before I...
DAVIES: Sure. Sure.
LEDUFF: This is like, kind of, - I never really talked out loud about it and just such, you know, and so...
DAVIES: You don't have to. I mean it's - it's...
LEDUFF: It's OK. It's OK. I just want to share. I'm feeling something. Anyway - so my mom had to see what my sister's life was like after she was gone, and we went to the bar - it's called The Flame - it was where the hookers and the rough guys and dope dealers hung out. And we went in there, she had her raccoon coat on - as she always did when she went to rescue her kids it seemed, because we all messed up and she'd always come find us - and she wanted an Amaretto and coffee at this dump. Amaretto, much less coffee. Please. So we all had whiskey, and a woman came over wanting to know what we were doing in there.
LEDUFF: We got a weird feeling - my brother and I - but my mom said, my daughter used to come here. And the woman asked, who's your daughter? And she said, Nicole, and that's all you had to say in that place because we didn't pay for a drink the rest of the night. Whatever you're going to think about people like my sister or your own relatives out there, you have them. Wherever she went, her crowd had respect for her.
There's something dignified in every human being. And when people ask me why I write about the things I write about, that's why because I come from that and there is dignity in everybody.
DAVIES: You know, the title of the book, "An American Autopsy," suggests that the city is dead beyond revival. It's not the way you see it, is it?
LEDUFF: No. But it's half dead. Yeah. That title means a lot of things, I think, the subtitle. One is, it's also anatomy. OK. So when you open up, you know, what's connected to the spine, to the hips, to the legs, and so I'm trying to look at Detroit holistically, the politics, the suits. Our masters of the universe are not brokers. They're car executives. The union man, black, white. I'm doing that.
Number two, I'm also saying - and I believe this - that Detroit is the bell weather for America. Why is Philadelphia interested in Detroit? Because Philadelphia's wondering if it's going to be Detroit, and in a lot of ways, Philadelphia is Detroit and so I don't mean that as an anthem to a dead city, but it's almost there, but the people are alive and we're getting down to the nitty gritty of fixing it.
Everybody asks me, what's the future here? And I say we have coherent auto companies. We have the busiest trade corridor on the continent with Canada. We have all the fresh water in the world. We have great hospitals and the tech center. We're well-positioned, but none of that is going to flower until we weed the garden today of these sludge contracts, and all the cheating, and robbing and killing. Forget the future. Focus on the present and, if we don't, then - yes - we will completely be dead.
DAVIES: Do you see progress in the politics of the city?
LEDUFF: I do because guess what? Our former mayor - his defense team just rested, so his corruption trial is now in the jury's hands. Corruption trial - we had one. We have a federal investigation into our county government. We have - I mean, the feds are hanging more paper here than an interior decorator. You know what I mean? So we're starting to clean this joint out, which has never been clean. The white people here like to say it started with Coleman Young, the first black mayor, 40 years ago; but for 100 years, this place has been corrupt, but money covers a lot of sin. There's no more money left. Time to fix it.
DAVIES: So a lot of the greed and corruption and incompetence was there before, but when times were good and the economy was strong, it mattered less than now, when there's really so little margin?
LEDUFF: I believe so, and I think, if you look at the United States of America, people's anger with Washington is rooted in that. We've lost our homes, we've lost our jobs, we've lost our faith. And, you know, you look at Iraq and - where's the water treatment plant we were supposed to be building for $10 billion?
People are fed up. They're sick of it. They want a government that is responsive to them instead of dismissive of them and dipping into their pockets.
DAVIES: We're speaking with Charlie LeDuff. His book is called "Detroit: An American Autopsy." We'll talk more after a break. This is FRESH AIR.
DAVIES: If you're just joining us, our guest is Charlie LeDuff. He's a veteran reporter. He worked for the New York Times and the Detroit News. He has a new book called "Detroit: An American Autopsy."
You write about your brother Billy who, at one point in the book, worked in a screw factory. And he's, you know, an interesting example of somebody making their way in the city. Do you want to just talk a little bit about what he was doing there and, kind of, where he's going?
LEDUFF: Billy is every white middle class man nightmare because everybody's afraid of having it and then losing it. But Billy's tough and Billy's building it again, but long and the short, Billy was selling those crap, subprime loans. That's what he was doing. He's moving paper. Moving paper.
DAVIES: He worked for a mortgage broker or something?
LEDUFF: Yeah. And he was good at it, man. He - you know, like I said, he didn't graduate high school, but that guy's a numbers shark. And he made $75,000 a year working three days a week. He was that good. And then, pop, bust, gone.
And he gets a job in the screw factory that his wife hooks him up with and he's thinking, factory - sweet, union, great pension, sick days, great. You know? Nope. Eight dollars and fifty cents an hour and that's it. And stand over there and inhale those fumes and, you know, suck up those mineral spirits and it was horrible.
And I was talking to my brother the other day about it. He goes, you know, the only way to make time pass was to actually work, which made the lifers in the factory mad, because they knew he wasn't staying and he was upsetting the balance, which is, you know, drag it out and drag it out. And so, one day, the boss made my brother clean the toilet. My brother said, what? He went and cleaned the toilets and somebody wrote some graffiti intended for him that says - you know, I'll paraphrase it for radio. You know, hard workers suck.
And my brother's like, man, this is what went wrong. It's what went wrong in America, like, we had everything. You didn't have to be educated. Go to the factory. If you don't like it, quit. Go across the street. There's another great paying job. You got a power boat. You have a vacation home on the lake. It was awesome. And then we woke up - this generation - and the music had stopped and there's no chair. And that's what Billy's all about.
DAVIES: So is he still at the factory?
LEDUFF: No. Then, he got another job as a salesman. He lost that one and he's training now for a new job, I believe. The Yellow Pages, something like that. But Billy's a winner, you know. They grow 'em tough on Joy Road, which is where we come from, and Billy's got three teenage kids. You know what I mean? He's a good father, doing what he's got to do, maybe not his dream, but his dream is to have good children, so I guess he's making it, isn't he?
DAVIES: You're - it seems like you're having a ball doing your TV reporting in Detroit and shining a light on things in the city that need it. Your daughter is how old now?
LEDUFF: Six.
DAVIES: Yeah. I mean, what kind of future do you picture for her in Detroit?
LEDUFF: I don't know, man. You know, I don't know. But all I know is this. She sees me on TV and she - who's that bad man, Papa? What did he do? What is government, Papa? Why were you yelling at that government man, Pops? I said, because we, the people, ask them to take care of the money for the roads and the school buses and he's not doing it. Oh, that's not good, Pops, is it? I said, no, darling, it's really not.
So I'm going to do everything I can 'til the Lord takes my last breath. It's going to be better than this. And, you know, my friend, for the first time in my life, I actually believe in journalism as a force for good, not that I had any answers or solutions, but you know, there's a basic minimum standard of which people should be able to live, like having an ambulance show up to your house on time, having a fire truck show up to your home that actually can pump water. Having your home broken into and not have to wait around for eight hours for the police. At minimum, we deserve better than that, and I can honestly look at my daughter and say, we're going to have it and I hope maybe one day my daughter looks ain this archive and she says, I was proud of my dad.
DAVIES: You know, it's interesting because we're at a time when newspapers everywhere are collapsing and investigative reporting is threatened. Do you feel optimistic about what the media can do?
LEDUFF: They are collapsing. They're collapsing and they were slow to pick it up. I mean, they didn't even realize giving their content away for free was going to kill them. You know what I mean? They're very high bound and old institutions, but without them and that sort of indepth journalism, I say this to people. I say, you don't know anything. Media. I can't trust the media. I hate the media. I say, you don't know anything until the media tells you. You know what I mean?
There's very few people going into the archives of the, you know, buildings department and looking at that contract. You know, Kwame Kilpatrick here, our mayor on federal racketeering charges - that didn't come out because somebody told. That was because reporters did their work.
So I'm always going to be a Times man. I'm always a newspaper man. I always believe in doing - right Bob - I'll shout out to Bob Shadobauer(ph), the guy I work with, the cameraman and editor. We do an enormous amount of journalism before we even press the button. But having said that, once you press the button, I got a rule. There's two rules to this whole game called journalism. Get it right and don't be boring because, if you're boring, you're dead.
And I'll say it this way. The press is written into the Constitution like the judiciary, the executive and the legislative, except they didn't leave us any money. We have to find our own money to do it and so, if people don't want to purchase your product, you're dead. So I like "Borat." I like "Jackass." I like Charles Kuralt. I like Colbert. I like "60 Minutes." I like kitty cats and YouTube. Put them all together, shake it up and give me something. Give me something smart and give me something entertaining. That's my mantra.
DAVIES: Well, Charlie LeDuff, thanks so much for spending some time with us.
LEDUFF: I swear, I always wanted to be on this show, so it's really my honor.
GROSS: Charlie LeDuff spoke with FRESH AIR contributor Dave Davies. LeDuff is the author of the new book, "Detroit: An American Autopsy." You can read an excerpt on our website, FreshAir.NPR.org, where you can also download Podcasts of our show and you can follow us on Twitter at NPR FRESH AIR and on Tumblr at NPRFreshAir.Tumblr.com.
Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.
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Republican U.S. Sen. Scott P. Brown and his Democratic opponent Elizabeth Warren yesterday headed to Central Massachusetts to stump for votes in the aftermath of their third contentious debate, held in Springfield on Wednesday night.
Mr. Brown, aiming to reinforce a theme he advanced during the debate that he is independent from Republican partisanship in Washington, met up in Hudson yesterday morning to accept an endorsement from a former Democratic state senator, Robert A. Durand.
Mr. Durand, a popular environmentalist who authored the state�s Riverways Protection Act, crossed the political aisle in 1999 to serve in the administration of a boyhood friend, Republican Gov. Paul A. Cellucci, as his secretary of environmental affairs.
Mr. Durand, who served 14 years as a state representative and senator, said Mr. Brown is in line with a tradition of �independent thinkers� in Central Massachusetts not afraid to work with the other party.
�Frankly I don�t feel that we know Elizabeth Warren,� Mr. Durand said in a statement. �She represents the politics of Cambridge, not the independent politics of Massachusetts,� Mr. Durand said.
Ms. Warren meanwhile was in Worcester yesterday afternoon to be cheered on by supporters gathered at the Park Avenue fire station, including Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray and U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester.
Her campaign trumpeted media comments about the debate giving her high marks on sharp attacks on Mr. Brown�s voting record on women�s issues.
During the debate, while Mr. Brown argued he had been protecting women�s rights all his adult life and was pro-choice, Ms. Warren described him as failing on several key votes.
Ms. Warren criticized Mr. Brown�s votes against the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, equal pay for women and insurance coverage for contraceptives.
�He has had exactly one chance to vote for equal pay for equal work and he voted no. He had exactly one chance to vote for insurance coverage for birth control and other preventive services for women. He voted no. And he had exactly one chance to vote for a pro-choice woman from Massachusetts for the United States Supreme Court and he voted no. Those are bad votes for women,� Ms. Warren said during the debate.
After greeting firefighters at the fire station, Ms. Warren, a Harvard Law School professor, walked to her Park Avenue headquarters where she was greeted by about 200 cheering supporters, some of whom took to a microphone to tell reporters why they want her elected to the Senate.
City Councilor Philip Palmeiri complained that Mr. Brown voted against President Obama�s jobs bills three times starting a year ago. �Three strikes you are out here. That�s what I know.� The bill would have provided funds for 123,000 jobs nationwide.
Mr. Murray echoed his criticism.
Ms. Warren took up the topic, saying Massachusetts lost a chance to add jobs when the bill was blocked by Republicans.
�It was a year ago today that 22,000 people could have had jobs in Massachusetts and Sen. Brown voted no. Why did Sen. Brown vote no? Because that jobs bill would have been paid for entirely by just a fractional increase in the taxes on the people making more than a million dollars a year,� she said.
�This race is about whose side you stand on,� she said.
Ms Warren said she felt she gained ground in the Springfield debate.
�We had a chance to talk about the issues and that is what really matters. We talked about jobs and Scott Brown�s votes against three jobs bills in a row. We talked about women and Scott Brown�s votes against equal pay for equal work.�
The debate showed two visions for the country.
�The Republicans say cut taxes right at the top and let everybody else pick up the pieces. We believe it�s about everybody pays a fair share and we make those investments in the future,� she said.


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Keppinger working to regain throwing strength
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- After undergoing a debridement of his right shoulder Sept. 27 at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Jeff Keppinger was expected to recover in two to three months and be ready for Spring Training.
Keppinger, 33, is in camp and going through regular workouts, but he also is strengthening his arm through a throwing program at the same time.
"I'm still sort of rehabbing," Keppinger said. "It was tight. Real tight. I'm still in the process of getting it all loosened up and being able to do everything fully."
"I've noticed his throws aren't as strong as you'd think," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "So we're slowing him down to make sure he doesn't reinjure or do something where he would have to skip a few days because of his arm.
"So, slowing that down and giving him a little time to catch back up."
Keppinger, who is under contract for two years at $8.5 million total, hasn't given much thought to the third-base battle with Matt Davidson, Marcus Semien and Conor Gillaspie. Keppinger is simply trying to get his arm better.
"It was super tight. But over the last few months, it has loosened up a lot," Keppinger said. "It's definitely coming along. I know the first couple of times I threw, I wasn't throwing much farther than 30 feet. I'm at about 120 feet now. I'm getting there. It's just slow."


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Guest post by Evander Diarmand
The federal government of the United States is, through a practice of perpetual borrowing, on the verge of financial collapse. This is widely decried in media and among citizens to varying degrees but little is done to waylay the rampant expenditure of borrowed funds. These loans, derived from foreign states and from the banks of the Federal Reserve Board, are currently the primary source of revenue for the federal state. The United States Constitution establishes no clear limit on the purposes for which the federal state may incur such debt nor does it limit the extent thereof. Consequently, the congress has taken advantage of the omission to further its political aims both variously and collectively. This self-perpetuating debt—both a threat to the national security and to the integrity of the federated union—has been a common feature in American politics for decades; to the extent that citizens widely accept it as typical. Despite its ubiquity and the number of people employed by debt-funded government bureaus and agencies, this practice is onerous. Speaking of debts, it shall be wise if you visit our website and understand the various dynamics of debts. Getting back to the topic, it is the primary threat to the republic today and must be stopped even if drastic action is required.
Financial management is widely regarded by contemporary society as drudgery—it is a necessary task but bland and thankless. Most people avoid the subject and procrastinate when they face financial difficulties. The general atmosphere of distaste for accounting is amplified enormously in the public spheres of society: several American states ignored the problem and are on the verge of bankruptcy. By many accounts, attaining solvency for these states cannot be postponed. In the federal government, even this eleventh-hour urgency is nonexistent because the federal government derives its funds in a manner all together obscure; a manner which is certainly extra-legal for any single state to attempt. The federal government did not acquire this ability accidentally. The entire history of central government in America, when examined broadly, is a series of legislation and court decisions which have gradually allowed more varied sources of revenue for the central authority and fewer restrictions thereon. The Articles of Confederation famously established the most restrictive rules for revenue generation and it is widely agreed the founders drafted the US Constitution primarily to remedy this perceived flaw. Under the Constitution, the federal apparatus has grown rapidly as court precedent has become increasingly liberal in judgments addressing federal revenue. The twentieth century has seen the greatest expansion of federal sources of revenue while the infrequent judicial impediments have been superseded either by legislation or constitutional amendment. The federal state, its appetite for money apparently insatiable, has perfected the skill of marketing even the most outrageous proposals for generating revenue—some egregiously unconstitutional—to the American populace.
What is the aim of the congress that they must constantly seek new sources of revenue? The answer is simple: Power. And they never have enough. It is likely not a conscious decision to dominate American society or undermine the republic but rather a collective understanding among federal officials that having power is preferable to sharing it. Power, for a congressman, is in controlling the purse. The more revenue they collect, the more control and popularity they can maintain throughout the various states. For instance, taxation of the states or the people never decreases. This means the federal government increasingly controls the collective income and expenditure of the American people simply because so much of our currency goes through their hands. What they collect is held until the congress finds a political motivation to redistribute it. Obviously, those who benefit from this redistribution will lend aid politicians who willing to enact it. When enough congressmen find it politically advantageous to subsidize an industry, agency, or a state, they make pacts with congressmen (often of the "opposition") who wish to spend it to further their own careers.* Thus, the money is returned to the economy and artificially adheres to certain regions or economic sectors. This is the nature of the modern tyranny. It is a political culture of patronage, inherently plutocratic: because federal revenue is seemingly endless, begging for a share of that revenue has become a lucrative profession for the silver-tongued** and political power has gravitated to the center rather than being diffused throughout the union. Unsatisfied with controlling the money of the American states and their citizens, the federal government has in recent decades turned to borrowing as their principal monetary leverage.
This represents a terrible danger because, today, congress distributes far more than it collects to a degree unimaginable to most Americans. The imbalance is so severe that borrowing has replaced taxation as the primary source of revenue. Our current political system as it is practiced today can only continue if the government borrows endlessly. This has created a paradox: taxation's only purpose in this system is the payment of interest on federal debt. To elaborate, the federal government has become so gluttonous for revenue that it borrows against the debt itself and struggles to pay off the interest at all. Raising taxes will only delude congressmen into believing they can maintain charade while lowering them will only deepen the debt. Their hunger for revenue has drained the Treasury, Social Security, and anywhere else money sat unused or in trust. They have borrowed from nations around the world and from the Federal Reserve so much for so long that the books would be incomprehensible to even the most talented accountant. It is dangerous because, if for no other reason, it deludes Americans into believing loans and income are the same thing.
The real danger, however, is the source of the borrowed money. Because the federal government is borrowing against debt (and therefore the American people's money itself) it has created the possibility of catastrophic "foreclosure." China (among many others states) and the banks of the Federal Reserve essentially own the federal government. And its net worth does not even come close to what it owes. These are some of the most powerful entities on earth and they have the potential to subjugate our federal government. Further, the economy of our nation, far from recovering after the 2007 decline, is in danger of descending into deepest stagflation. The congress's heedless borrowing compelled the Federal Reserve to perform the greatest feat of illusion in human history: they have separated currency from any kind of value whatsoever and in so doing have been an example for power-hungry governments worldwide. Their monetary policy defies explanation and justification. When the congress needs money, the Federal Reserve quite literally creates it out of nothing and lends it to our government. These loans are borrowed against debt and must be repaid with interest despite being imaginary money. Income tax exists for no other reason than to prevent the federal government from being sucked into this monetary singularity. All the while, the Federal Reserve buys up more and more of our government with money that never existed.
This is not a clever piece of rhetoric meant to generate support for a party, and ideology, or a philosophy—the situation is truly dire. The US Constitution is consistently ignored and power no long derives from the states or the people. Powers now derives solely from money in the most direct literal sense. Our ideals and the republic created to maintain them are already gone. Elimination of the federal government's unlimited power to collect and spend revenue is not a risk or gamble; it is a necessity if this union is to survive at all. Financial collapse is imminent—perhaps even with our lifetimes—if we continue to tinker with our tax code and limit ourselves to small spending cuts. Politicians and lobbyists caused the problem and are therefore incapable of solving it.
What is necessary for our prosperity and our security is inevitably painful: the largely idle but extremely expensive bureaucracy must be dismantled; the military empire must end; the power of congress to borrow must be severely limited; and the Constitution must be reinstated and amended to outlaw borrowing and new federal spending during a deficit. Most importantly, we must wrest control of our currency from the hands of the Federal Reserve. The downward spiral must be stopped—partisan elections, regulations, and lobbying will accomplish nothing unless we resign ourselves to the truth. Unfortunately, there is no happy ending. It is too late to solve this problem without damage to our economy and political infrastructure; this is the price of delay. We must accept that we will not always be rich, that we will not always be powerful, and that politics is poison. All we can do now is save our country.
*Believe me, none of them actually wants to prevent the spending all together.
** i.e. those who aren't politicians.


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You get a pink slip.
Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications announced Friday they've replaced OWN CEO Christina Norman after just five months at the helm of the new cable network.
Discovery COO Peter Linguori will take charge as interim CEO of the women's themed network, which has been beset by flagging ratings, Reuters reported.
U.S. & World
In a staff memo leaked to the wire service, Winfrey thanked Norman for "many sacrifices in helping to launch the network."
But she said the OWN board had deemed it "necessary that we have a different kind of leadership in place for the next phase of OWN's growth."
"With the final taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show only a few weeks away, I will soon be able to devote my full energies to OWN," Winfrey added in a statement.
In an interview with EW.com Friday, Winfrey acknowledged she faces challenges in turning around the channel's performance.
"It's not where I want it to be," she told EW, though she said she was heartened by a conversation with "SNL" boss Lorne Michaels, who once told her it would take three years to "pay my dues."
"And when I think I've learned as much as I need to know, I'll be hit with something else," Winfrey said.


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Cloudberry Living have a lovely selection of Scandi style gifts for the special women in your life or to give to your special friends. Choose from our range of designer homeware gifts such as candle holders in all finishes like glass and copper, maybe throw in a few candles to go with them, which come in a huge range of colours and sizes. Soft furnishings to suit their own special style like cushions and throws from Linum, Elvang and Marimekko. We have a lovely selection of personal designer gifts like Marimekko umbrellas and Linum, Lapuan Kankurit and Elvang scarves in wool and cotton.
Maybe choose from our huge selection of designer tableware and glassware, like a fabulous bowl or serving bowl or platter, vacuum jug or pitcher. We also stock the entire selection of Moomin ceramics, theres bound to be a character to suit.
Our luxury design gifts feature from top Scandinavian brands like Marimekko, Linum, Elvang, Lapuan Kankurit, Iittala and Stelton.


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What now? Let me tell you what now. I'ma call a couple of hard, pipe-hittin' collectors to go to work on Hasbro here with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch. You hear me talkin' Rhode Island boy? I ain't through with you by damn sight. I'ma get medieval on your ass.(I couldn't resist.)
Part of me thinks that would serve anyone right who was claiming, "Well those ships look pretty good to me and scale doesn't matter". You kind of don't deserve a BMF Falcon if that was your stance on the Class II ship reduction. Those things are pathetic.
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