By: Nathan Maul

The future of the St. Louis Cardinals includes a little bit of their past.

The Cardinals recently released their new alternate jerseys that will be worn for Saturday home games. They took the design straight from the throwback jerseys of the 1920s. The front will say “St. Louis” in the front instead of the usual “Cardinals.”

These jerseys are nostalgic of the old Gashouse Gang days of the Cardinals, when the franchise won three World Series titles in eight years. During that stretch, the Cardinals were led by a number of future Hall of Famers, including Frankie Frisch, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Medwick, and Dizzy Dean.

The Cardinals enter the 2013 season coming off a season in which they were one game away from winning the pennant two years in a row. After blowing the last three games and losing legendary hitting coach Mark McGwire to the LA Dodgers, they team was in for some change.

Maybe the Spirit of St. Louis will live on through the throwback to the days of old.

 

By: Nathan Maul

As the nation awaits the next four years with its current president, it can also enjoy a look back into the life of a former one.

Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln began playing in selected theaters across the country starting November 9, and has been lauded by critics everywhere. The film, staring Daniel-Day Lewis as the 16th US President Abraham Lincoln, offers an intimate perspective on the man who led the Union through the Civil War and ended slavery.

Kenneth Turan, a film critic for the LA Times, hailed the film as a brilliant blend of writing and directing.

“This narrow focus has paradoxically enabled us to see Lincoln whole in a way a more broad-ranging film might have been unable to match,” Turan said.

Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post said the film paints a sobering, yet entertaining picture of Lincoln.

“The portrait of Lincoln that Spielberg presents — in a film that often plays like a tense, high-spirited political thriller as influence is peddled behind the scenes and votes come down to the wire — will no doubt surprise viewers raised on a more staid version of the Great Man.”
 

By: Nathan Maul

Sitting in a hotel room in his hometown Chicago, President Obama got the call to action from the American people for four more years. This came after months of political boxing with Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

In a race that was viewed by many pundits as an election “too close to call” soon transfigured into a comfortable win for the president. As of early Wednesday, Obama took 303 votes from the Electoral College to surpass the 270 votes needed to win. By the same time, Romney had 206 votes.

The 2012 election will also be known as the costliest election of all time. Obama spent nearly $853 million after raising $934 million. Compare that to Romney, who spent $752.3 million after raising nearly $882 million.

The spending totals highlight the evolution of the electoral process, with social media playing its largest role in political history. Supporters of both parties logged onto Facebook and Twitter to voice their opinions. Unfortunately, the wake of the election still bears a nation divided.

In an address to supporters in Chicago, Obama maintained his stance that Americans must be united to prosper, not grow apart.  “Tonight, you voted for action, not politics as usual,” Obama said. “You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together: reducing our deficit, reforming our tax code, fixing our immigration system, freeing ourselves from foreign oil.”

 

By: Nathan Maul

New York City might be in the middle of a crisis, but NBC is hoping they can lift some spirits by sharing some laughs.

Actor and comedian Louis Szekely, known by his stage name Louis C.K., will host this week’s Saturday Night Live in a week marred by Hurricane Sandy and in the height of election coverage. C.K. is the star of the hit FX show Louie and has been doing stand-up comedy since 1984.

C.K. is best known for his observational wit that sometimes borders black comedy. He has won multiple awards for his work, most recently two Emmy’s for “Writing for a Comedy Series” and “Writing for a Variety Special.”

Fun., who are coming off their hit album Some Nights, will be the musical guests.

By: Nathan Maul

The new cultural wave sweeping the east coast has nothing to music or television, but it certainly is getting a lot of attention.

As Hurricane Sandy continues to devastate the Atlantic coast, millions of people in the eastern part of the United States continue to seek shelter and hope for the best. As of October 31, there were 53 reported deaths according to USA Today and millions remain without power. CNBC reports the financial impact to be up to $50 billion and counting.

Presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have each spoken publicly about the catastrophe as the election campaigning nears its end. President Obama received praise from both Democrats and Republicans for his immediate response during the storm, making personal phone calls to officials in affected states and remaining in the White House to supervise the nation as the storm continues. Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) said of Obama, “the president has been all over this and deserves great credit.” Christie has endorsed Romney in the upcoming election.

Meanwhile, Romney took a break from his campaigning efforts to host a local relief effort in Kettering, Ohio, supplying food and water that will be sent to areas in need. He spoke in Florida Wednesday to encourage Americans to donate to the American Red Cross and to put political differences with Obama aside.

“We come together in times like this and we want to make sure that they have a speedy and quick recovery from their financial and in many cases, personal loss,” he said. “I know that [Obama and I] have differing viewpoints with regards to the campaigns. Up until that point – when we get to vote on November 6th and on November 7th, you’re going to see us describe our respective visions for the country.”

 

By: Nathan Maul

It’s true what they say—you truly can’t predict baseball. Throughout the
2012 Major League Baseball regular season, the San Francisco Giants ranked 18 th in
baseball in team slugging percentage and were dead last in the league in team home
runs. Good thing for them its not the regular season anymore.

The Giants lead the World Series 1-0 against the Detroit Tigers after Pablo
Sandoval’s historic three home run night, capping off an 8-3 victory in Game 1. San
Francisco got to the World Series in convincing fashion after winning the last three
games in the NLCS by outscoring the St. Louis Cardinals 20-1. The Cardinals had the
best offense in the National League in the regular season and tallied eight runs on
the Giants in Game 4, pulling their lead to 3-1 in the best-of-seven game series. Then,
Pablo Sandoval and Marco Scutaro decided to take over.

Sandoval, who was nicknamed “The Kong-Fu Panda”, has been on a tear,
chopping six home runs in his last 54 at bats according to ESPN. This comes after a
regular season in which he hit 12 home runs all year. Scutaro was named MVP of the
NLCS after hitting .500 against the Cardinals. He is one of four players to ever have
14 hits in an LCS, and his 10-game hit streak is tied for the longest postseason streak
in franchise history. Did I mention he’s a lifetime .276 hitter?

The Detroit Tigers, meanwhile, had the ninth-best earned run average in
baseball, including 2011 Cy Young winner Justin Verlander. Logic would suggest
that Verlander, who had the third-best individual earned run average in the Major
Leagues, would have no issue with the tepid San Francisco offense. But a three home
run effort by Sandoval to lead the eight-run surge proved that predicting baseball
is like predicting the weather—the logic might be there, but sometimes it rains on a
sunny day.

For the Giants, they’ll try to rain on the Tigers for the remainder of the series.
Did I mention you can’t predict baseball?

By: Nathan Maul

October 22 might have been a big night for sports, but it was a much bigger night in politics for two men who are campaigning to run the United States of America. Incumbent President Barack Obama and former Governor Mitt Romney met at Lynn University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to discuss foreign policy at a time in which America is engaged in several conflicts oversees and is years into an economic crisis.

Obama and Romney offered differing views on the majority of issues facing the nation, and the finger pointing and partisan punches American has grown accustomed to were in full swing. 

After the dust settled and the debate had ended, many were left questioning who actually won the debate? After what many considered to be a Romney victory in the first debate and an Obama victory in the second, the third debate had much more subjectivity to it. Some polls, however, found that one candidate held a slight edge.

According to a CNN poll, 48 percent of people said President Obama won the final debate while 40 percent sided with Romney. The same poll also found that more women favored Obama’s third debate while more men leaned Romney. In fact, Obama holds a slight advantage in most demographic blocks, but this is not necessarily an indication he’ll win the election.

Currently, both candidates are split 47/47 percent in the popular vote with twelve states seen as up for grabs according to USA Today. On November 6th, America will vote to put an end to the statistics and to begin the next four years for the rest of our political lives.

By: Chastity Spencer 

Once known as the all-american sweetheart guy, Chris Brown has been vigorously pushing that image away. Over the years, CB has changed right before our eyes. Going from bare skin, to gold hair and tats all over, Chris Brown can now be crowned the 'Bad-Boy' of R&B. 

CB's image in the media has been becoming more positive since the domestic violence incident that occurred with his then girlfriend, pop singer, Rihanna. During that time, CB was almost banned from the entire music industry. He was getting backlash from all media, he lost fans, and support. Rihanna on the hand, gained publicity, put out more hit songs, and because sort of a scorned princess. 

After laying low for a while, Chris Brown made a comeback! No more 'Mr. Nice Guy' he came back with new hair, a new style, new things to sing about like 'Sex' and not 'Puppy Love'. Brown is still questioned about domestic violence in interviews and he always shares his support of not promoting it, being totally against it, and knowing that it's wrong.

Recently, CB and Rihanna finally made a public appearance together since the domestic violence dispute on the MTV Video Music Awards. At that time while on stage, Rihanna and Brown kissed, right around the new neck tattoo Brown has.

The tat appears to be the face of Rihanna. Once side bruised and beaten like the released photos from the incident report Rihanna did on Brown a few years back. The other side shows a beautiful woman, with gorgeous face structure, like Rihanna.

Veteran tattoo artist Peter Koskela explained that the tattoo is not of Rihanna, but of a mexican sugar skull, which is a representation of the Mexican celebration, 'Day of the Dead'. Koskela says he would never do racist tats, gang-related tats, or domestic violent tats. He further explained that he hates when people misinterpret things and that when the tat was presented to the world it wasn't healed and still looked swollen and puffy, not showing the full effect and look of the tattoo. Koskela thinks that anyone that would get a beaten women tattoo is odd, and that even if Brown would have asked him to do such a tattoo he would decline. But, Koskela did say that he wants to tat a picture of Rihanna on him, but for the beautiful woman she is, and not the horrible incident that happened to her.

Source: E! News  

By: Khrystin Walters

As if September 11th doesn’t carry enough heart ache for America, sadly on the anniversary of the falling of the Twin Towers in New York City, half way across the world the lives of four American’s were taken when the U.S Consulate was set ablaze in Libya.

                  “The slain ambassador, Chris Stevens, helped save Libya's eastern city of Benghazi during last year's revolution. He died there Tuesday night, along with another diplomat and two State Department security officers”. –CNN Online

Sources are crediting the Benghazi consulate attack as retaliation for an insulting video released over the internet. However U.S sources differ in the idea and feel the attack was planned.

            “The Benghazi consulate was one of several American diplomatic missions that faced protests after the online release of a film that ridiculed Muslims and depicted the Prophet Mohammed as a child molester, womanizer and ruthless killer” –CNN Online

Despite which allegation is true President Obama is declaring that justice will be served for their deaths. Libya leaders have apologized for the deaths citing the attack as a “cowardly criminal act, says Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib, which is no understatement. However the apology or video leak does not sway the American President away from his vow to have justice.

Measures taken by the United States have been confirmed as sending American surveillance drones into Libya to collect information of individuals believed to be involved. As well as moving two American destroyers to the Libya coast both equipped with satellite guided missiles.

            The move "will give the administration flexibility" in case the administration orders action against targets inside Libya, one senior official said”. –CNN Online

The Obama Administration in my opinion are not seeking revenge for this tragedy, this is not “an eye for an eye”, they are simply gathering information in seeking justice for the four Americans lost but not being naive that defense measures should also be in place.

Source: CNN.com

To Read Full Article Visit: http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/12/world/africa/libya-us-ambassador-killed/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

By: Chastity Spencer

The time that everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived! Many people were growing restless waiting on Apple to release its newest iPhone. Many consumers were starting to feel dull and boring with the iPhone 4, and consumers with the iPhone 4s were upset that the phone they jumped to get didn't seem so different than the prior version. 

Apple announced that the new and improved phone will be released to customers 9/21/12. The phone has new features, it's one-fifth lighter than the 4s and 18% taller than the other iPhones, has new earbuds, and a new charger! The new charger aspect of the phone is a little upsetting, only because it's so easy to use older chargers if you have Apple products. Apple did say that they will make an adapter that will have the ability to plug in both chargers for user but this will be an extra expense. 

The burning question that is probably running through your mind is, what about the speed? Eureka! The iPhone 5 can run on 4G networks! It was odd that iPhones had only run on 3G, given that they were the most savvy and used phones ever! Now iPhone 5 users will feel more secure and satisfied that their phones can run on speeds that other phones have been able to lately. Apple is now working with iPhone carriers, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and Canadian providers on the 4G switch over. 

The new iPhone 5 will be in black and white aluminum. Prices of the phone are very reasonable. Prices are $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB, $399 for 64GB. iPhone 5 comes with IOS 6, and IOS 6 has 200 new features. Some of the features of the new system have already been done by Android, but everything Apple does just seems better! 

Some things to enjoy are a more clear and superb megapixel, FaceTime is no longer just WiFi, better sound, music, internet browser, photo sharing, a better Siri (that was definitely needed), notification center, iCloud, etc. So, what are you're thoughts? Are you afraid to jump and get the first of the bunch because sometimes those can be defective? Well, it's all up to you! This phone surely sounds like a keeper. It leaves you wondering what else Apple has left up their sleeve by giving us such a new great phone, seeming as if it has everything we've ever needed in a phone! Only time will tell in this new release. Good luck new iPhone 5 users!

Source: USA Today