Syria Crisis: 13 Syrians Killed In Missions To Rescue Wounded Journalists

NEW YORK -- Thirteen Syrian activists have been killed in the process of helping wounded foreign journalists trapped in Homs escape to safety over the past week, the international activist group Avaaz has reported.

Spanish journalist Javier Espinosa, a reporter for El Mundo, became the second journalist to escape Homs in the past week, arriving in Lebanon after a treacherous, multi-day journey. His passage comes just a few days after British freelance photographer Paul Conroy was smuggled to Beirut.

Two other French journalists, Le Figaro reporter Edith Bouvier and photographer William Daniels, remain trapped in the deadly city.

The journalists were among several foreigners, and dozens of Syrians, wounded or killed in a massive shelling of a makeshift press center in the embattled Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr. The American reporter Marie Colvin and French photojournalist Remi Ochlik were killed in the attack.

According to Avaaz, which has helped facilitate the escapes, all four journalists set out from Homs with a team of local Syrian guides on Sunday night, but were soon after attacked by the Syrian Army.

Three Syrians were killed in this attack, which forced Daniels and Bouvier to return to the field hospital in Baba Amr. Seven more Syrians were killed during the retreat.

Both Espinosa and Conroy managed to continue beyond Homs, but became separated when their party was once again targeted by shells from the Syrian Army, Avaaz said; three more Syrians were killed then.

Espinosa stayed behind to attend to some of the wounded Syrians while Conroy, who was wounded in the legs in the initial press-center attack, continued on to Beirut. It took three more nights of risky travel through the woods and mountains of northern Syria before Espinosa arrived in Beirut.

In videos posted to YouTube last week, Conroy and Edith Bouvier, a French reporter for Le Figaro, pled for the Syrian government to permit them to leave Homs along with other severely wounded Syrians.

The International Committee of the Red Cross spent much of the past week trying to secure safe passage for it and the Syrian Red Crescent to deliver much-needed humanitarian supplies to Homs. They recently briefly reached Homs, but pulled back after a truce with the Syrian Army could not be guaranteed.

Late on Wednesday, Syrian troops were said to be moving in on the Baba Amr neighborhood in Homs, where 100,000 residents have endured weeks of nearly nonstop shelling.

“That’s it, they just want to finish it,” one activist from Homs told the Financial Times. “What will go on in the next couple of days will be the worst.”

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Avaaz executive director Ricken Patel hailed the bravery of the Syrian activists who compounded the dangers to their lives in the attempt to smuggle the journalists to safety.

"Thousands of Syrians have chosen to risk jail, torture, and their lives to fight for democracy, and to get the story out," Patel said. "Those journalists went bravely in to tell their story, and that's part of why the Syrians are willing to risk their lives to help them get out."

Patel also said that in the immediate aftermath of last week's strike on the press center, nine Syrians had taken great risks to enter Baba Amr with medical supplies.

"We later found out that seven of them were discovered dead, with their hands tied behind their back and the medical supplies strewn on the ground," Patel said. "They were shot in the back of the head."

Cameron Diaz, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie Shoot Down Fox News' Jesse Watters At Oscars

Bill O'Reilly sent his notoriousambusher/producer Jesse Watters to the Oscars on Sunday, and Watters, rather predictably, was met with a hostile reception from some of the celebrities on the red carpet.

Angelina Jolie (an object of O'Reilly's concern), on being asked to opine about the state of the union, cooly shot Waters down, saying, "that's a longer discussion than the red carpet."

George Clooney had a fairly cordial discussion with Watters, but snapped at him when he asked if "Obama" was doing a good job.

"Yes, he is," he said. "He's the president of the United States. He's not Obama, he's the President of the United States."

The biggest rejection, though, happened offscreen, as Watters recounted to O'Reilly on Monday. When he approached Cameron Diaz, she saw his Fox News mic and said, "'Oh no, I don't do Fox News.'" Ouch!

Obama Leads Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum: Poll

President Barack Obama leads Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum by double digits nationally, according to a poll released by Politico and George Washington University Monday.

Obama leads Romney by a 53-43 margin and Santorum by a virtually identical 53-42 margin. A generic Republican fares slightly better, with Obama winning by a 50-45 margin. Obama has a 53 percent approval rating.

Among Republicans, Santorum is the first choice of 36 percent and Romney is the first choice of 34 percent. 56 percent of Republicans, however, think Romney is the most electable while 28 percent think the same is true for Santorum.

Recent polls have shown a tighter potential race between Romney and Obama. Obama's approval rating has also registered at slightly lower numbers in recent surveys.

A Red Red Rose

 By Robert Burns    

O, my Luve's like a red, red rose,  

That's newly sprung in June.　　

O, my Luve's like the melodie,　　

That's sweetly play'd in tune.　　

                  

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,　　

So deep in luve am I,　　　　

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang dry.　　　

                  

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,　

And the rocks melt wi' the sun,　

O, I will luve thee still, my dear,　

While the sands o' life shall run.　

                  

And fare thee weel, my only luve,　

And fare thee weel a while!　　　

And I will come again, my luve,　
 

Courbefy, French Village, On Sale For Less Than Some U.S. Homes

Looking for a place to call home? You might be able to buy an entire village for the same amount that it costs to buy a house in some places.

The French village of Courbefy, in Limousin, a region in central France, has been put up for sale for the seemingly low asking price of $436,370, according to theTelegraph. The village, which includes 19 buildings and a swimming pool, was once home to about 200 people. But after the town failed to transform itself into a tourist destination, local residents say it's now filled mostly with "thieves, drunks and squatters."

But Courbefy isn't the only town to go up for sale recently. Last April, a medieval village in the central Italian region of Abruzzo was put up for sale for about $770,000, according to a separate Telegraph report. The village, which is largely uninhabitable, includes 11 "crumbling stone buildings" and a half-ruined 13th century church. More recently, the British village of Askham Richard near York, went up for sale with a price tag of more than $10 million.

The average new U.S. home cost $272,900 as of 2010, according to the Census.

As romantic as it may sound, owning a village can often present a series of problems for the landlords. There are about a dozen privately owned villages in the UK, according to The Guardian, and aside from the considerable task of maintaining numerous historical buildings, town landlords also have to worry about the dynamics of the community, like finding the best way to cope with schools running low on students.

"Some people call it social engineering," John Rous, who's family has owned a British village for generations, told The Guardian, "I prefer to think of it as keeping the village alive."

That could be why privately owned islands seem to be a more popular choice for those looking to become lord of the land. Billionaire Sir Richard Branson owns the tropical paradise of Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands, for example, which can be rented out for the tidy sum of $47,000 a day. Meanwhile, magician David Copperfield actually owns four islands that make up his Bahamian Musha Cay estate.

For potential island buyers looking for a more unspoiled choice, Red Rock Island in San Francisco bay was recently put on the market for $9 million, down from $22 million. The 5.8-acre rock is undeveloped but it may still make a good investment, particularly if you're into secret caves and buried pirate treasure.

A Visit from St. Nicholas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle,
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie, known as the King of Steel, built the steel industry in the United States, and , in the process, became one of the wealthiest men in America. His success resulted in part from his ability to sell the product and in part from his policy of expanding during periods of economic decline, when most of his competitors were reducing their investments.

　　Carnegie believed that individuals should progress through hard work, but he also felt strongly that the wealthy should use their fortunes for the benefit of society. He opposed charity, preferring instead to provide educational opportunities that would allow others to help themselves. "He who dies rich, dies disgraced," he often said.

　　Among his more noteworthy contributions to society are those that bear his name, including the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, which has a library, a museum of fine arts, and a museum of national history. He also founded a school of technology that is now part of Carnegie-Mellon University. Other philanthrophic gifts are the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to promote understanding between nations, the Carnegie Institute of Washington to fund scientific research, and Carnegie Hall to provide a center for the arts.

　　Few Americans have been left untouched by Andrew Carnegie's generosity. His contributions of more than five million dollars established 2,500 libraries in small communities throughout the country and formed the nucleus of the public library system that we all enjoy today.

Both Were Inspired by Cats

Both Scarlatti and Chopin were inspired by cats．WhenScarlatti's cat struck certain notes on the keys of his harpsichord ，one by one， with its paws， Scarlatti proceeded to write The Cat'sFugue，a fugue for harpsichord in D minor ．While Chopin wascomposing waltz No．3 in F major ， his cat ran across the keys ofthe piano，amusing Chopin So much that he tried for the samesounds in what is called The Cat's Waltz．