Matt Damon Condemns Palin

Actor Matt Damon speaks out on the Republicans' choice of hockey-mom Sarah Palin for VP. Damon compares her rise to a 'really bad Disney movie' and says it's crazy that this woman could become President. (Sept. 10)

Sculptor Tina Allen dies at 58 in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES—Sculptor Tina Allen, who depicted such figures as Martin Luther King Jr. and Fredrick Douglas in her works, has died. She was 58.

Allen died Tuesday at a Los Angeles hospital from complications of a heart attack, said her ex-husband, Roger Allen.

Among her bronze sculptures are George Washington Carver in the St. Louis Botanical Garden; Douglas in the African American Museum in Birmingham, Ala.; Sojourner Truth in Battle Creek, Mich.; and King in Las Vegas.

Allen may be best known for her 13-foot statue of "Roots" author Alex Haley located in Haley's hometown of Knoxville, Tenn.

Allen was born in December 1949 in New York. Her father was jazz musician Gordon "Specs" Powell. When she was 11 years old, she worked with renowned sculptor William Zorach. She graduated from the University of South Alabama and later continued her education at the Pratt Institute in New York and the University of Venice in Italy.

She is survived by her mother, Rosecleer Powell; her three children, Koryan Allen, Josephine Allen and Tara Allen; and two grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for next month in Los Angeles.

———

On the Net:

http://www.tinaallen.com

Biden pick draws Democratic praise, GOP criticism

By BETH FOUHY and CHRISTOPHER WILLS, Associated Press Writers

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Democrats quickly coalesced around Sen. Joe Biden as Barack Obama's running mate on Saturday while Republicans recycled the Delaware lawmaker's less-than-favorable past descriptions of his new political benefactor.

As the newly minted ticket readied for its first joint appearance, in Springfield, Ill., former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton called Biden "an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant." Clinton, Obama's most persistent rival through the primaries and the caucuses, was an also-ran in Obama's vice presidential search.

Freshly printed signs saying "Obama/Biden" sprouted in front of the Old State capitol as thousands gathered in anticipation of the first campaign appearance by the party's ticket for the fall campaign.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Democrats quickly coalesced around Sen. Joe Biden as Barack Obama's running mate on Saturday while Republicans recycled the Delaware lawmaker's less-than-favorable past descriptions of his new political benefactor.

As the newly minted ticket readied for its first joint appearance, in Springfield, Ill., former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton called Biden "an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant." Clinton, Obama's most persistent rival through the primaries and the caucuses, was an also-ran in Obama's vice presidential search.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Obama-Biden ticket will bring the change the country needs, including a filibuster-proof Senate majority.

The Democratic National Convention opens on Monday in Denver and will formally anoint Obama as the party's presidential nominee later in the week.

Biden's approval as running mate is likewise assured, his selection an attempt by Obama to balance the ticket with a seasoned senator, widely regarded for his foreign policy expertise.

Sen. John McCain, Obama's Republican rival in the race for the White House, called Biden, his longtime Senate colleague and friend, to congratulate him.

But McCain's campaign wasted no time trying to turn the selection to its own purposes.

It quickly produced a television ad featuring Biden's previous praise for McCain and comments critical of Obama. In an ABC interview last year, Biden had said he stood by an earlier statement that Obama wasn't yet ready to be president and "the presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training."

Biden drew praise from some Senate Republicans, including Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, with whom he has worked closely over the years. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., called Biden "the right partner for Barack Obama" and the decision "good news for Obama and America."

The Obama-Biden rally was set for the old state Capitol where the Illinois senator kicked off his presidential campaign nearly 20 months ago. Aides said the candidates would be joined by their wives and the Bidens' three adult children, Hunter, Beau and Ashley.

Biden made the trip from his home in Delaware by chartered jet, pausing long enough to wave to well-wishers gathered to see him off.

The Obama campaign sent a text message announcing his choice to supporters' phones and e-mail addresses about 3 a.m. EDT, the latest innovation by a tech-savvy operation that has deftly used the Web as a fundraising and organizing tool. A meticulously planned rollout was pre-empted when word of Obama's choice was reported on Friday night.

Bill Burton, a spokesman for the campaign, said Obama had called Biden on Thursday to offer him the vice presidential spot on the ticket. Michelle Obama placed a call Saturday morning to Biden's wife, Jill, to congratulate her.

But the secret held for more than 24 hours as speculation swirled around a list of potential running mates that included Govs. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Rep. Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas.

Biden, 65, is a creature of Washington, a 35-year Senate veteran and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee whose national security credentials will help patch a hole in Obama's relatively thin resume. Polls show that McCain holds a wide lead over Obama on the question of who is better prepared to be commander in chief.

Biden's straightforward style and working-class Catholic roots in Scranton, Pa., were also expected to help Obama appeal to middle- and working-class voters in battleground states like Ohio and Pennsylvania who favored Clinton in the primaries.

Officials close to Clinton said she was never formally vetted for the No. 2 position. The former first lady, who finished narrowly behind Obama in the primaries, will address the convention Tuesday night and her name will be placed in nomination even though she has endorsed Obama and has urged her delegates to support him.

"Sen. Biden will be a purposeful and dynamic vice president who will help Sen. Obama both win the presidency and govern this great country," Clinton said in the statement.

Biden has established a generally liberal voting record and a reputation as a long-winded orator. As a member of the Judiciary Committee — he was its chairman from 1987 to 1995 — he has played a key role in considering anti-crime legislation, Supreme Court nominees and constitutional issues.

While the war in Iraq has been supplanted as the campaign's top issues by the economy in recent months, the recent Russian invasion of Georgia has returned foreign policy to the forefront.

Biden was elected to the Senate at the age of 29 in 1972, but personal tragedy struck before he could take office. His wife and their 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, were killed when a tractor-trailer broad-sided her station wagon. Biden took his oath of office for his first term at the hospital bedside of one of his sons.

Biden dropped out of the 2008 race for the Democratic presidential nomination after a poor finish in the Iowa caucuses, but not before he talked dismissively of joining someone else's ticket.

He had stumbled on his first day in the race, apologizing for having described Obama as "clean." Months later, Obama spoke up in Biden's defense, praising him during a campaign debate for having worked for racial equality.

It was Biden's second try for the White House. The first ended badly in 1988 when he was caught lifting lines from a speech by British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock.

House apologizes for slavery, 'Jim Crow' injustices

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a resolution apologizing to African-Americans for slavery and the era of Jim Crow.
The House on Tuesday evening passed a resolution apologizing for slavery and Jim Crow laws.

The House on Tuesday evening passed a resolution apologizing for slavery and Jim Crow laws.

The nonbinding resolution, which passed on a voice vote, was introduced by Rep. Steve Cohen, a white lawmaker who represents a majority black district in Memphis, Tennessee.

While many states have apologized for slavery, it is the first time a branch of the federal government has done so, an aide to Cohen said.

In passing the resolution, the House also acknowledged the "injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow."

"Jim Crow," or Jim Crow laws, were state and local laws enacted mostly in the Southern and border states of the United States between the 1870s and 1965, when African-Americans were denied the right to vote and other civil liberties and were legally segregated from whites.

The name "Jim Crow" came from a character played by T.D. "Daddy" Rice who portrayed a slave while in blackface during the mid-1800s.

The resolution states that "the vestiges of Jim Crow continue to this day."

"African-Americans continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow -- long after both systems were formally abolished -- through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity and liberty, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity," the resolution states.

The House also committed itself to stopping "the occurrence of human rights violations in the future."
Don't Miss

The resolution does not address the controversial issue of reparations. Some members of the African-American community have called on lawmakers to give cash payments or other financial benefits to descendents of slaves as compensation for the suffering caused by slavery.

It is not the first time lawmakers have apologized to an ethnic group for injustices.

In April, the Senate passed a resolution sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, that apologized to Native Americans for "the many instances of violence, maltreatment and neglect."

In 1993 the Senate also passed a resolution apologizing for the "illegal overthrow" of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893.

In 1988, Congress passed and President Reagan signed an act apologizing to the 120,000 Japanese-Americans who were held in detention camps during World War II. The 60,000 detainees who were alive at the time each received $20,000 from the government.

Barack Obama in Berlin

Barack Obama addresses a crowd of over 200,000 people in Tiergarten, Berlin.

Flooding feared along U.S.-Mexico border from Dolly

By Joe Mitchell

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - Hurricane Dolly, which unleashed a fury of winds and rain on the U.S.-Mexico coastline, weakened to a tropical storm on Thursday but concern remained over flooding along the populous Rio Grande Valley.

The Bush administration declared 15 of the Texas counties hit hardest by the storm as a disaster area, allowing them to draw on federal funds for cleanup and rebuilding.

More than 200,000 customers of American Electric Power Co's Texas unit, which serves the affected area, were without power on Thursday morning.

Dolly, the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season to cross land, dumped up to 12 inches of rain in the first hours after coming ashore at the barrier island of South Padre Island on Wednesday, where it ripped off roofs and snapped trees.

Residents emerged from their homes and shelters to walk through streets littered with debris, toppled street lights and downed power poles.

"Everything is gone. Everything got wet," said Amber Acevado, who runs a flooring store on South Padre Island. "You stand here inside the store, you can see right through to the outside."

Many residents and tourists trapped on the island by the storm left after a causeway to the mainland reopened.

The storm missed most offshore drilling rigs and production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. crude oil prices rose earlier this week on worries of possible storm damage to offshore drilling rigs. But oil prices fell after the storm barely dented supplies, and hit a 7-week low of $123.62 a barrel on Thursday.

POST-DOLLY FLOODING FEARED

Dolly was downgraded to a tropical storm late on Wednesday and remained at that strength as it moved inland, dumping enormous amounts of rain on south Texas and northeast Mexico and with sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kmh). It was expected to weaken further to a tropical depression later on Thursday.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said it could produce total rainfall of up to 20 inches in some places. "These rains are very likely to cause widespread flooding," the center said.

The storm was centered near Laredo, Texas, the NHC said in a report issued at 11 a.m. EDT.

The full effect of the flooding might not be seen for days as the rainfall flowed into the Rio Grande Valley, home to more than 1 million people.

There were no immediate reports that levees along the Rio Grande had been breached.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has put 1,200 National Guard troops on alert in case they are needed to help cope with the storm's aftermath.

Mexico's navy on Wednesday recovered the body of a fisherman who had gone missing off the Yucatan Peninsula as the storm passed through.

The only other reported casualty from the storm so far was a 17-year-old boy who was seriously injured when he fell seven stories from a condominium balcony in South Padre Island.

(Additional reporting by Jim Forsyth in San Antonio; Writing by Chris Baltimore, editing by David Storey)

(For latest U.S. National Hurricane Center reports, see http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/)

In Germany, Obama urges joint fight against terror

By DAVID ESPO and DAVID RISING, Associated Press Writers

BERLIN - Before an enormous crowd, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Thursday summoned Europeans and Americans together to "defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it" as surely as they conquered communism a generation ago.

"The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand," Obama said, speaking not far from where the Berlin Wall once divided the city.

"The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand," he said.

Obama said he was speaking as a citizen, not as a president, but the evening was awash in politics. His remarks inevitably invited comparison to historic speeches in the same city by Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, and he borrowed rhetoric from his own appeals to campaign audiences in the likes of Berlin, N.H., when he addressed a crowd in one of the great cities of Europe.

"People of Berlin, people of the world, this is our moment. This is our time," he said.

Police spokesman Bernhard Schodrowski said the speech drew more than 200,000 people.

Obama's speech was the centerpiece of a fast-paced tour through Europe designed to reassure skeptical voters back home about his ability to lead the country and take a frayed cross-Atlantic alliance in a new direction after eight years of the Bush administration.

Republicans, chafing at the media attention Obama's campaign-season trip has drawn, sought to stoke doubts abut his claims.

In Die Welt, the German publication, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., said: "No one knows which Obama will show. Will it be the ideological, left-wing Democratic primary candidate who vowed to 'end' the war rather than win it, or the Democratic nominee who dismisses the progressing coalition victory as a 'distraction'? Will it be the American populist who has told supporters in the United States that he will demand more from our allies in Europe and get it, or the liberal internationalist hell-bent on being liked in Europe's salons?"

Obama met earlier in the day with German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a discussion that ranged across the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, climate change, energy issues and more.

Knots of bystanders waited along Obama's motorcade route for him to pass. One man yelled out in English, "Yes, we can," the senator's campaign refrain, when he emerged from his car to enter his hotel.

Obama drew loud applause as he strode confidently across a large podium erected at the base of the Victory Column in Tiergarten Park in the heart of Berlin.

He drew loud applause when he talked of a world without nuclear weapons and again when he called for steps to counter climate change.

Obama mentioned Iraq, a war he has opposed from the start, only in passing. But in discussing Afghanistan, he said, "no one welcomes war. ... But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO's first mission beyond Europe's borders is a success."

He referred repeatedly to the Berlin airlift, launched by the Allies 60 years ago when the Russians sought to isolate the Western part of the city. If they had succeeded, he said, Communism would have marched across Europe.

"Where the last war had ended, another World War could have easily begun," the presidential candidate said.

Now, he said, the enemy is different but the need for an alliance is the same as he cited terrorism and the extremism that supports it. "This threat is real and we cannot shrink from our responsibility to combat it," he said.