“World’s strangest movie theater snacks - MSNBC” plus 4 more

World’s strangest movie theater snacks - MSNBC
6th Annual Dr. MLK Cleanup Event - WSFA
Dow drops again - bad news everywhere - San Francisco Chronicle
Nominations are being sought for Cinco de Mayo Fiesta grand marshal - Minneapolis Star Tribune
Haiti's suffering is a result of calculated impoverishment - ZNet

World’s strangest movie theater snacks - MSNBC

Posted: 22 Jan 2010 08:24 PM PST

Art collector Odetta Medich left her home country of Lithuania to live in Sydney, but she still remembers fondly the unusual snacks and beverages she enjoyed at the movies in the onetime Soviet territory—especially a traditional beerlike drink called kvas.

"We used to buy it outside the cinema from a lady dressed in a white doctor's coat, serving it from a large rusting cylinder drum with a little tap at the side," she recalls.

Americans may not drink much beer at the movies like the Lithuanians—at least, legally—but snacking is, undeniably, a central part of cinema-going in the United States, as well as abroad.

And while popcorn may be popular in movie theaters worldwide, there are still traditionalist holdouts in every country, where unusual local treats are still offered at the concession counter.

"You have to order something to eat—it's a required part of the movie experience," says Charles Runnette, editorial director of entertainment hub Movieline.com (and occasional T+L contributor).

For travelers, a trip to a subtitled movie in a foreign land is a great way to soak up some culture—and get a taste of what the locals like to munch on while taking in the country's latest action, comedy, or chick flick. Palates vary widely across the globe, so movie snacking is bound to be an adventure.

In Japan, for example, a country that practically invented quirky comestibles, the movie snacks of choice are baked fish skeletons coated with soy and sugar. South Koreans adore fishy snacks as well, but they also go mad for roasted chestnuts. And in Moscow, VIP theater patrons indulge in—what else—beluga caviar.

And don't be surprised to see strange cinema snacks in U.S. theaters too. Concessions are of course big business here; the country's largest movie theater chain, Regal, sold almost $860 million worth of food and drinks in 2009—about 27 percent of its revenue. And to increase sales, Regal is experimenting with new offerings, many of which are sure to shock the popcorn, Milk Duds, and Coke crowd. Egg rolls, beef jerky, and even frozen soft drinks with sour apple, wild cherry, and blue raspberry–flavored syrups are just a few new and unusual items currently being tested in local markets.

Check out our list of the world's strangest movie snacks—and leave the Junior Mints for later.

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6th Annual Dr. MLK Cleanup Event - WSFA

Posted: 22 Jan 2010 08:17 PM PST

Posted by: Mario Hendricks - bio | email

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Britton YMCA's Youth One Montgomery and Student YMCAs will join with youth groups from Goode Street Community Center and churches in the Weed & Seed area to sponsor a cleanup in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and to carry out Dr. King's message of community service.

The youth will work in groups to clean up streets in the Montgomery Weed & Seed neighborhoods and to assist the nonprofit Common Ground in several community improvement projects in the Washington Park area.

District Seven Councilwoman Martha Roby will speak to the volunteers at 10:15 a.m. at the Cleveland Avenue YMCA Cultural Arts Center, located at 1400 Aaron Street, to kick off the cleanup event.

Sponsors of the event include Britton YMCA, Montgomery Clean City Commission and Montgomery Weed & Seed.

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Dow drops again - bad news everywhere - San Francisco Chronicle

Posted: 22 Jan 2010 08:39 PM PST

The Dow Jones industrial average had its fourth big drop in five trading days Friday, sliding 217 points. Over three days, the Dow lost 552 points, or 5.2 percent, and over the past five days, it fell 537 points, including a 115-point gain Tuesday. All the major indexes fell more than 2 percent Friday.

Investors are finding bad news wherever they look. Even before Obama announced his plan Thursday, they were selling stocks on disappointing earnings and concerns that a possible slowdown in China's economy might spread. The mood in the market was dark enough that upbeat earnings Friday from General Electric Co. and McDonald's Corp. weren't enough to sway investors.

Stocks have had their worst showing since they began their recovery last March. The market also is seeing the kind of volatility that dominated the market's long slide - the Dow has had triple-digit moves in five straight days for the first time since December 2008.

The Dow lost 4.1 percent this week, its worst week since it hit a 12-year low in March. It had reached its highest level since Oct. 1, 2008, only this past Tuesday, closing at 10,725.43.

John Brady, a senior vice president of global interest rates at MF Global, said concerns surrounding Obama's plan and China's efforts to slow its economy have investors reducing risk.

Obama rattled the market Thursday after asking Congress for limits on how large big banks can be and to end some of the risky trading large financial companies have used in recent quarters to boost their profits. It's not clear what will come of the proposed changes but investors are selling anyway.

"It appears to be a move to put some shackles on risk-takers," Mitch Schlesinger, managing partner at FBB Capital Partners in Bethesda, Md., said of the new proposals.

The problem with earnings reports is that they're not meeting investors' high expectations. Tech stocks were among the big losers Friday after Google Inc.'s fourth-quarter revenue didn't meet forecasts, and after a Citigroup analyst lowered his rating on the stocks of seven chipmakers.

Bernanke opposition growing

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faced mounting Senate opposition for another four-year term Friday, even as the White House described President Obama as confident about his confirmation.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said she'll vote against Bernanke, adding another Democrat to the ranks of those arrayed against him. "It is time for a change - it is time for Main Street to have a champion at the Fed," she said.

Democratic Sens. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Bryon Dorgan of North Dakota also said they'll oppose Bernanke on the Senate floor. Feingold faults Bernanke for missing a high-risk culture at financial companies that led to a near economic meltdown late last year.

Deputy press secretary Bill Burton said the president has "a great deal of confidence" in the actions Bernanke already has taken and that

the White House still believes that Bernanke, 56, will get enough votes in the Senate to run the nation's central bank for another four years.

Source: Associated Press

This article appeared on page DC - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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Nominations are being sought for Cinco de Mayo Fiesta grand marshal - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Posted: 22 Jan 2010 08:46 PM PST

The 2010 Cinco de Mayo Fiesta in St. Paul is seeking grand marshal nominations for this year's parade, organizers announced Thursday. Nominees must be current or longtime former residents of the city's West Side and be significant contributors to the community. The fiesta's opening ceremony is scheduled for May 7, with the parade to follow the next day.

To obtain a grand marshal nomination form, visit the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta website at www.districtdelsol.com or call 651-222-6347. The nomination deadline is Feb. 25.

Organizers said that last year's two-day fiesta drew more than 100,000 celebrants of Minnesota's Hispanic/Latino culture. The grand marshal was Assistant St. Paul Police Chief Tomas Smith, a lifelong West Side resident.

PAUL WALSH

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Haiti's suffering is a result of calculated impoverishment - ZNet

Posted: 22 Jan 2010 08:17 PM PST

Haiti's poverty is treated as some baffling quirk of history or culture, when in reality it is the direct consequence of a uniquely brutal relationship with the outside world — notably the US, France and Britain — stretching back centuries.

There is no relief for the people of Haiti, it seems, even in their hour of promised salvation. More than a week after the earthquake that may have killed 200,000 people, most Haitians have seen nothing of the armada of aid they have been promised by the outside world. Instead, while the US military has commandeered Port-au-Prince's airport to pour thousands of soldiers into the stricken Caribbean state, wounded and hungry survivors of the catastrophe have carried on dying.

Most scandalously, US commanders have repeatedly turned away flights bringing medical equipment and emergency supplies from organizations such as the World Food Programme and Médecins Sans Frontières, in order to give priority to landing troops. Despite the remarkable patience and solidarity on the streets and the relatively small scale of looting, the aim is said to be to ensure security and avoid "another Somalia" - a reference to the US military's "Black Hawk Down" humiliation in 1993. It's an approach that certainly chimes with well-established traditions of keeping Haiti under control.

In the last couple of days, another motivation has become clearer as the US has launched a full-scale naval blockade of Haiti to prevent a seaborne exodus by refugees seeking sanctuary in the United States from the desperate aftermath of disaster. So while Welsh firefighters and Cuban doctors have been getting on with the job of saving lives this week, the 82nd Airborne Division was busy parachuting into the ruins of Haiti's presidential palace.

There's no doubt that more Haitians have died as a result of these shockingly perverse priorities. As Patrick Elie, former defense minister in the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide - twice overthrown with US support - put it: "We don't need soldiers, there's no war here." It's hardly surprising if Haitians such as Elie, or French and Venezuelan leaders, have talked about the threat of a new US occupation, given the scale of the takeover.

Their criticisms have been dismissed as kneejerk anti-Americanism at a time when the US military is regarded as the only force that can provide the logistical backup for the relief effort. In the context of Haiti's gruesome history of invasion and exploitation by the US and European colonial powers, though, that is a truly asinine response. For while last week's earthquake was a natural disaster, the scale of the human catastrophe it has unleashed is man-made.

It is uncontested that poverty is the main cause of the horrific death toll: the product of teeming shacks and the absence of health and public infrastructure. But Haiti's poverty is treated as some baffling quirk of history or culture, when in reality it is the direct consequence of a uniquely brutal relationship with the outside world — notably the US, France and Britain — stretching back centuries.

Punished for the success of its uprising against slavery and self-proclaimed first black republic of 1804 with invasion, blockade and a crushing burden of debt reparations only finally paid off in 1947, Haiti was occupied by the US between the wars and squeezed mercilessly by multiple creditors. More than a century of deliberate colonial impoverishment was followed by decades of the US-backed dictatorship of the Duvaliers, who indebted the country still further.

When the liberation theologist Aristide was elected on a platform of development and social justice, his challenge to Haiti's oligarchy and its international sponsors led to two foreign-backed coups and US invasions, a suspension of aid and loans, and eventual exile in 2004. Since then, thousands of UN troops have provided security for a discredited political system, while global financial institutions have imposed a relentlessly neoliberal diet, pauperising Haitians still further.

Thirty years ago, for example, Haiti was self-sufficient in its staple of rice. In the mid-90s the IMF forced it to slash tariffs, the US dumped its subsidised surplus on the country, and Haiti now imports the bulk of its rice. Tens of thousands of rice farmers were forced to move to the jerry-built slums of Port-au-Prince. Many died as a result last week.

The same goes for the lending and aid conditions imposed over the past two decades, which forced Haitian governments to privatise, hold down the minimum wage and cut back the already minimal health, education and public infrastructure. The impact can be seen in the helplessness of the Haitian state to provide the most basic relief to its own people. Even now, new IMF loans require Haiti to raise electricity prices and freeze public sector pay in a country where most people live on less than two dollars a day.

What this saga translates into in real life can be seen in the stark contrast between Haiti, which has taken its market medicine, with nearby Cuba, which hasn't, but suffers from a 50-year US economic blockade. While Haiti's infant mortality rate is around 80 per 1,000, Cuba's is 5.8; while nearly half Haitian adults are illiterate, the figure in Cuba is around 3%. And while 800 Haitians died in the hurricanes that devastated both islands last year, Cuba lost four people.

In her book The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein shows how natural disasters and wars, from Iraq to the 2004 Asian tsunami, have been used by corporate interests and their state sponsors to drive through predatory neoliberal policies, from radical deregulation to privatisation, that would have been impossible at other times. There's no doubt that some would now like to impose a form of disaster capitalism on Haiti. The influential US conservative Heritage Foundation initially argued last week that the earthquake offered "opportunities to reshape Haiti's long-dysfunctional government and economy as well as to improve the public image of the United States".

The former president Bill Clinton, who wants to build up Haiti's export-processing zones, appeared to contemplate something similar, though a good deal more sensitively, in an interview with the BBC. But more sweatshop assembly of products neither made nor sold in Haiti won't develop its economy nor provide a regular income for the majority. That requires the cancellation of Haiti's existing billion-dollar debt, a replacement of new loans with grants, and a Haitian-led democratic reconstruction of their own country, based on public investment, redevelopment of agriculture and a crash literacy programme. That really would offer a route out of Haiti's horror.

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Cultural

Friday, January 22, 2010