By a 13-1 vote, the Los Angeles City Council today voted to approve an aggressive plastic bag ban that is aimed at saving taxpayer money for trash cleanup, promoting sustainability, and improving the environment. Los Angeles will become the largest city in the nation to ban single-use plastic bags in retail stores once the law is in effect. Today's Council vote orders the Bureau of Sanitation to complete an environmental review of the ban and an ordinance to enact it in four months, according to City News Service. The approved ordinance is a slightly paler version of an even more strident ban as proposed by Councilman Paul Koretz, which also called for the eventual ban of single-use paper bags. Instead, the approved ban calls for ... Continue reading →
May 22, 2012, 3:00 pm10 Million Shades of Green: Erotic Trilogy Dominates Book Sales By JULIE BOSMANIn case there was any doubt about the blockbuster success of the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy by E L James, the numbers are in: more than 10 million copies of the books have been sold in the United States in six weeks, the publisher said on Tuesday, putting the books among some of the best-selling series in modern publishing.“The sales velocity for ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is unprecedented, with reader demand still growing,” Anthony Chirico, the president of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, said in a statement. “As we head into the heart of the summer reading season, sales are likely to continue exceeding even our most optimistic ... Continue reading →
May 23, 2012, 11:57 amImagine That: Peter Dinklage to Star in All-Male ‘Imaginary Invalid’ By DAVE ITZKOFFPeter Hapak for The New York Times Peter DinklageAs they say on “Game of Thrones,” a Lannister always pays his debts. But does a Lannister always fill out a dress? Perhaps Peter Dinklage, the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor who plays the cynical aristocrat Tyrion Lannister on that HBO fantasy series, can answer the question: This summer he will be starring in a new production of Molière’s satire “The Imaginary Invalid,” as one of its lead female characters.Starring opposite Ethan Phillips (of “Star Trek: Voyager”), who will portray the titular hypochondriac, Argan, Mr. Dinklage has been cast as his maid, Toinette, in this all-male staging of the play, ... Continue reading →
Luke Sharrett for The New York TimesMitt Romney delivered a speech on education at the Latino Coalition’s 2012 Small Business Summit Luncheon on Wednesday in Washington.The education issue figured in the Republican nominating contest only when candidates competed over how zealously they could call for abolishing the federal Education Department.Now, Mitt Romney has injected actual education issues prominently into the campaign for the first time. On Wednesday, he called for sweeping change in the federal government’s role in promoting school choice, an end to federal intervention at failing schools in high-poverty districts, and for bringing back private lenders to the subsidized college loan market.For his first big education speech, Mr. Romney chose a Washington meeting of a Hispanic business group. This was a savvy choice ... Continue reading →
Pete Souza/The White House In the photo that has hung in the West Wing for three years, President Obama looks to be bowing to five-year-old Jacob Philadelphia, his arm raised to touch the president’s hair — to see if it feels like his. WASHINGTON — For decades at the White House, photographs of the president at work and at play have been hung throughout the West Wing, and each print soon gives way to a more recent shot. But one picture remains after three years, its staying power testifying to the thousand words it seems worth to those who see it. In the photo, President Obama looks to be bowing to a sharply dressed black boy, who stands erect beside the Oval Office desk, his ... Continue reading →
Business The Economic Crisis in Greece May 23, 2012 - Why Greek businesses fear a return to the drachma and Athenians talk about the economic crisis. Continue reading →
