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The Honda Fit ranked No. 4 on the list, followed by the Dodge Dart, Mazda3, Fiat 500, Volkswagen Jetta, Honda Civic and Chevrolet Spark. |
La Jolla Town Council discussed the possibility of members donating money or time to help restore a shoddy police storefront in Pacific Beach that serves as a hub for officers patrolling La Jolla. |
Gardner said Lt. Brian Ahern of San Diego Police’s Northern Division told her the storefront needs new flooring, paint, protective glass and other repairs. Gardner recently visited the storefront with a contractor, who estimated that the work would cost about $10,000. |
Asked if the police department could hold a fundraiser to pay for the repairs, Gardner said fundraisers, such as the recent Friends of the Badge luncheon held June 13, pay for equipment like Kevlar vests that the cash-strapped department can’t afford to buy. |
“This (substation) falls through the cracks and I think it’s going to take independent funds for now,” Gardner said, noting an opportunity to have a recognition plaque affixed to the substation bearing the La Jolla Town Council’s name. |
The council is moving ahead with plans for its fall fundraiser, “Dancing with La Jolla Stars,” to take place in September at the Cuvier Club. The group is seeking sponsors, funding and in-kind advertising for the event, which includes the participation of as many as 10 professional dance clubs. |
Funds from the event, which will feature La Jolla-area notables in a “Dancing with the Stars”-style competition, will benefit projects and activities in the La Jolla community. |
the 2012 parade was weeks away from receiving nonprofit status. |
“We can’t apply for grants until we get the letter from the IRS,” she said. Though the council has typically been able to raise surplus funds through float and vendor fees to help pay for part of the following year’s event, fundraising was down last year, Kerr Bache said. |
The council will again apply for a maximum allowed grant of $5,000 from the county, as well as other corporate and industry funds. The group needs just shy of $50,000 to produce the parade, which includes police enforcement and insurance. |
Art Contest Winner: A representative from the office of Congresswoman Susan Davis noted during the meeting that The Bishop’s School sophomore Jenny Chen (pictured) was chosen as the winner of the 2012 Congressional Art Competition. Her painting, “A worldwide Puzzle,” will be displayed in Cannon Tunnel of the u.S. Capit... |
Kerr Bache said the parade will be expanded this year to include more educational booths, arts and crafts activities and equestrian areas. |
Per police request, the parade route will be extended to The Bishop’s School, where the floats will be dismantled. |
“Some of the congestion that’s occurred in the past in front of the Rec Center will be moved down the street, which will allow us to have more space and curb appeal for this festival,” Kerr Bache said. |
Erin Demorest, a representative for District 1 City Council- woman Sherri Lightner, said the mayor’s re- cently approved $2.7 billion budget includes the restoration of some services benefitting La Jolla, including three additional hours a week at city libraries; $262,140 to support non-personnel expenditures associate... |
Demorest said a requested report from the City Attorney’s Office and Park and Recreation Department on issues related to vendor and free speech tables at Children’s Pool will be ready for review during the town council’s July meeting. |
The council also discussed architectural services and historic renovation professional Matthew Welsh as a potential candidate for the council’s vacancy on the Development Permit Review Committee, which reviews all discretionary permits in La Jolla outside of the La Jolla Shores Planned District for conformance to the L... |
Social networking website Twitter may ban over 10 million users for posting too much "pornographic material" on the site. |
According to the Daily Star, the content boundaries on Twitter states that users "may not use pornographic or excessively violent media" in their "profile image, header image, or background image". |
There are tens of thousands of users who post explicit photos on a daily basis on Twitter. |
However, there has not been any official announcement from Twitter on this as yet. |
In case you haven’t heard, the world is about to end on May 21. According to 89-year-old radio host Harold Camping and his followers, who have been placing billboards and subway ads across the country, people must repent now and “cry mightily” for God’s mercy in order to be “raptured” into heaven on Saturday, or risk b... |
Psychology is typically lousy at predictions. But it can predict, with the weight of some pretty strong evidence, that if the world doesn’t in fact end this weekend, most true believers of the apocalypse will not lose their religion. Indeed, the failure of the apocalypse to materialize will only strengthen believers’ c... |
The psychology behind this phenomenon applies to far more than fanatical religious behavior. It also helps explain everything from cults to the insidious influence of drug company paraphernalia. |
Previous studies of apocalyptic religions have explored believers’ reactions when the world doesn’t end as predicted. For his 1956 classic, When Prophecy Fails, for instance, Leon Festinger followed members of a UFO cult who believed that they would be rescued by a spaceship on Dec. 21, 1954, after which the world woul... |
Before the prophecy foundered, believers had already begun preparing for the world’s end, quietly and with little publicity quitting jobs or school and giving away their money and possessions. Afterward — when their prophet, Dorothy Martin, explained that their faith had been the key to preventing the flood — the follo... |
What accounts for this “irrational” behavior? Shouldn’t the failure of a very precise prediction for which they had made extreme sacrifices have prompted disillusionment and disgust — not greater commitment? |
Not according to Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance, which predicts that the more we have given and invested in a particular point of view, the less likely we will be to abandon it in the face of contrary evidence. It’s the same cognitive process that kicks in when we are made to behave in ways that are inconsi... |
So, if we have demonstrated commitment to something or someone — the way the UFO cult members did — we become even more committed and will go so far as to change our ideas to remain consistent with that commitment and avoid any regret or sense of failure related to earlier choices. In other words, if we’ve paid a lot f... |
Experimental studies and real-world observations have consistently supported this psychological theory. For example, when research participants were asked to perform an embarrassing task — reading explicit sexual descriptions aloud, including obscene words — in order to gain admission to what turned out to be a boring ... |
Similarly, studies have found that when people pay more for a bad wine or meal, they are more likely to report that it was tasty, compared with people who paid less for the exact same crappy dinner or drink. No one wants to be a sucker. |
Festinger himself led another study that offers more insight into this phenomenon. He had students do incredibly dull tasks: repeatedly turning pegs or placing spools on a tray. After they were lulled into sufficient boredom, the students were asked to do the researchers “a favor.” Some were offered $20 to do the favor... |
Later, another researcher asked the participants what they really thought of the task. Those who had been paid $20 or nothing said it was excruciatingly tedious. But those who were paid $1 mainly reported that it wasn’t that bad. Why? People who had either been paid handsomely or not at all had no reason to rationalize... |
But those who were paid only $1 were in a bind: either they had to see themselves as being bought off cheaply or convince themselves of what they were telling the other student — that the task was not boring. They tended to fool themselves into believing the lie. |
This is why, when proselytizers are sent out to seek religious converts — an undertaking that has an extremely low rate of success — it still works to reinforce religion. Even if the believers convince no one else to join, the act of proselytizing strengthens their own faith. |
Cognitive-dissonance research has since been replicated in numerous settings and variations. And it has a bunch of disturbing implications. One has to do with marketing — that people think products are better when they are priced higher; high cost not only makes bad food and wine taste better, but it even works with me... |
This is how people wind up pushing their friends and families to take expensive “life changing” seminars. What’s more, the worse they are treated in these seminars, the more likely they are to try to convince others to join. A similar phenomenon happens when teens say that boot camps “saved their lives,” even as resear... |
Going back to the brand-name drug example, imagine the situation from a medical researcher’s perspective. Let’s say there’s a doctor getting paid $1 million to promote a drug company’s products; then, also consider the doctor who’s getting only a few pens and free samples to promote the same drug. Based on Festinger’s ... |
Whether or not the world ends on Saturday, the effects of cognitive-dissonance theory are something to consider. Incidentally, Camping previously predicted that the world would end in 1994, so his die-hard followers have already been through this process once before. |
Aquaman (Jason Momoa), right, with Mera (Amber Heard), tries to deliver sly buoyancy to the inelegantly scripted "Aquaman," according to critics. |
NEW YORK — In a flood of new releases, “Aquaman” easily swam past “Mary Poppins Returns” and “Bumblebee” to lead the busy pre-Christmas weekend with an estimated $67.4 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. |
Without a "Star Wars" film on the December schedule for the first time in four years, a crowded slate of films sought to capitalize on the lucrative holiday period in theaters. |
The DC Comics superhero film "Aquaman," which cost Warner Bros. $200 million to make, arrived already a juggernaut overseas, where it has grossed more than $400 million in three weeks of release. Including advance previews, the Jason Momoa-led "Aquaman" reeled in $72.1 million in U.S. and Canada theaters, bringing its ... |
"Aquaman," directed by James Wan, has proven to be a stabilizing "Justice League" spinoff for Warner Bros. following bumpier DC releases outside of "Wonder Woman." The film garnered an A-minus Cinemascore from audiences. |
For the studios, the weekend was as much about setting themselves up for Christmas to New Year's, when theaters are routinely packed through the week. With Christmas falling on a Tuesday, studio executives said the weekend was an unpredictable and distraction-filled one, competing with some of the busiest shopping days... |
"We really kick off starting Tuesday," said Warner Bros. distribution chief Jeff Goldstein, who said the "Aquaman" performance came in just above the studio's $65 million forecast. "With kids not really returning to school until January 7, this aligns the stars for us in a really positive way." |
Returns were more modest for Disney's "Mary Poppins" sequel and Paramount's "Transformers" spinoff, though each had reason to expect strong business through the holidays. |
"Mary Poppins Returns," starring Emily Blunt and directed by Rob Marshall, debuted with $22.2 million over the weekend and $31 million since opening Wednesday. That was on the low side of expectations for the musical, which cost $130 million to make. |
"May Poppins Returns," which co-stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, will depend heavily on legs through the holiday season. On its side are good if not spectacular reviews (77 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), an A-minus CinemaScore from moviegoers and four Golden Globe nominations. |
"It's a great weekend to start yourself off on a launch pad into the holiday period," said Cathleen Taff, head of distribution for Disney. "We're looking forward to great word of mouth building over the next few weeks. And we're looking forward to a long run." |
"Poppins" still narrowly edged "Bumblebee," which opened with $21 million. That, too, is a soft beginning for a film that cost about $135 million to make after tax credits. It's also far off the pace of the "Transformers" films, the last of which ("Transformers: The Last Knight") debuted with $44.7 million in summer 20... |
But "Bumblebee," a "Transformers" prequel directed by Travis Knight and starring Hailee Steinfeld, has something the Michael Bay films never had: good reviews. "Bumblebee" was the weekend's most acclaimed new wide release with a 94 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences also gave it an A-minus CinemaScore. |
"The pre-Christmas preoccupation for moviegoers affected everyone. All movies were impacted slightly by that," said Kyle Davies, head of distribution for Paramount. "It doesn't concern me. We played really well with great reactions. The game plan has always been that we're now starting that play period where people go ... |
"To me, this weekend was a dress rehearsal for the big push that starts Christmas Day," added Davies. |
Also in the mix is Sony's well-reviewed "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," which slid to fourth in its second week with $16.7 million in ticket sales. The film also made one of the best debuts for an animated release in China where it was no. 1, grossing $26.1 million over the weekend. |
Clint Eastwood's "The Mule" added $9.3 million in its sophomore frame, bringing its two-week total to $35 million. Bradley Cooper, who co-stars in "The Mule," could also celebrate his "A Star Is Born" crossing $200 million domestically. |
Largely overlooked in the onslaught at theaters was STXfilms' "Second Act," starring Jennifer Lopez. The romantic comedy debuted with an estimated $6.5 million in 2,607 locations, drawing an audience that was 70 percent female. |
But the weekend's real flop was "Welcome to Marwen," the Robert Zemeckis-directed fantastical drama starring Steve Carell as an imaginative man whose scale model town helps him rehabilitate after a trauma. The film, which cost at least $40 million to make, earned just $2.3 million in 1,900 theaters. It's the second str... |
Is ‘Aquaman’ a packed-to-the-gills spectacle? Or a big-screen bellyflop? |
Early reviews suggest DC Comics' superhero gamble is a bit of both. |
Yet the weekend managed to nearly equal the box office of the same weekend last year when "The Last Jedi" was in its second week of release and "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" opened. Ticket sales for the "Star Wars"-less weekend were down a mere 2.1 percent, according to Comscore. |
Year to date, the domestic box office is up 7.5 percent and was expected to just eke past 2016's record $11.38 billion sometime late Sunday or early Monday, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. |
"The collective and cumulative strength of these newcomers, particularly 'Aquaman,' and a huge slate of holdovers gave us a stronger weekend than anyone imagined," Dergarabedian said. "A superhero movie in December can make up for not having a 'Star Wars' movie in December." |
1. "Aquaman," $67.4 million ($91.3 million international). |
2. "Mary Poppins Returns," $22.2 million. |
3. "Bumblebee," $21 million ($31.1 million international). |
4. "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," $16.7 million ($38 million international). |
5. "The Mule," $9.3 million. |
6. "The Grinch," $8.2 million ($23.7 million international). |
7. "Second Act," $6.5 million. |
8. "Ralph Breaks the Internet," $4.6 million ($9.3 million international). |
9. "Welcome to Marwen," $2.4 million. |
10. "Mary Queen of Scots," $2.2 million. |
Thanks to a Windsor non-profit organization, veterans with disabilities in Colorado are embarking on a new mission. Trident Veteran Adaptive Programs, or TVAP, works with these veterans to improve their abilities and take the focus off of their disabilities. But to get their help, these vets have to go underwater. |
THORNTON — When you're in the water, you feel weightless. |
That's exactly how people with light personalities like Desiree Emillio-Duverge deal with their heavy realities. Emillio-Duverge is a veteran of the Cold War. |
"I witnessed the Berlin Wall physically coming down in front of my eyes," she said. |
While stationed in Germany, she contracted a respiratory disease which left her paralyzed and in wheel chair. She said with her difficult situation, she saw no hope. But Scott Romme with Trident Veterans Adaptive Programs did see hope for her and knew exactly how to help. TVAP teaches veterans with various disabilities... |
"The program is designed to introduce or reintroduce veterans to the aquatic environment," Romme said. |
However, it does more than just get the veterans back into the water. It also helps them overcome mental and emotional challenges. |
"Desiree before this was not confident and strong," Emillio-Duverge said. "I lived a life in fear." |
Now the woman was once bound by her wheelchair has been set free by the water. |
"I'm unstoppable," she said. "Yeah I'm paralyzed, but I'm doing more now than when I could walk." |
TVAP has been helping disabled veterans for nearly 30 years now. To learn more about the non-profit, click here. |
An author who has researched the Cold War's most famous espionage case said new evidence suggests another U.S. diplomat, not Alger Hiss, was the Soviet agent who fed U.S. secrets to Moscow. |
The claim was presented Thursday at a daylong symposium, "Alger Hiss & History," at New York University. It provided new information that, if true, could point toward a posthumous vindication of Hiss, who was accused of spying for the Soviet Union and spent nearly five years in prison for perjury before his death in 19... |
Also at the conference, a stepson of Hiss argued that Hiss' chief accuser invented the spy allegations after his sexual advances were rejected. |
Author Kai Bird said there was new evidence to suggest that the real spy was another U.S. official named Wilder Foote. Hiss was accused of feeding secrets to the Soviet military intelligence agency GRU under the code name Ales. |
Bird said he and co-researcher Svetlana A. Chervonnaya had identified nine possible suspects among U.S. State Department officials present at the U.S.-Soviet Yalta conference in 1945. A process of elimination based on their subsequent travels to Moscow and Mexico City excluded eight of them, including Hiss, he said. |
"It left only one man standing: Wilder Foote," Bird said. |
Foote died in 1974 after a career as a diplomat. During World War II, he was involved with U.S. lend-lease operations supplying the Soviets. |
A grandson dismissed Bird's claim Friday. |
In a telephone interview, Bird said more research would be required to prove that Foote was Ales but that "he fits the itinerary in every way, and Hiss simply does not." |
Foote's grandson said in an e-mail to The Associated Press signed Wilder Foote 5 that his grandfather "was cleared of any suspicion" of wrongdoing by the FBI and the McCarthy Commission investigating spy activities. "He was and still is innocent." |
"I can only assume that Mr. Bird has ulterior motives to besmirch my grandfather's name, possibly for Mr. Bird's own celebrity," Foote said. |
Also Thursday, Timothy Hobson, Hiss' stepson, said Whittaker Chambers, whose bombshell allegations against Hiss broke the case open, had lied about his personal relationship with Hiss and had never visited the Hiss home as he claimed. |
Hobson, 80, said that during the time Chambers claimed to have visited the home, he was recuperating from a broken leg and met every person who came calling. |
Chambers was a former American communist party member who spied for the Soviets during the 1930s. He defected before World War II and accused others of being spies, but his claims did not attract FBI interest until after the war. He joined Time magazine in 1939 and as a writer and editor was a severe critic of communis... |
"It is my conviction that he was in love with Alger Hiss, that he was rejected by Alger Hiss and he took that rejection in a vindictive way," Hobson said. |
PARIS — The police organized an enormous manhunt across the Paris region on Wednesday for three suspects they said were involved in a brazen and methodical midday slaughter at a satirical newspaper that had lampooned Islam. |
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