Top 10 Toy Crazes

Zhu Zhu Pets are just the latest inexplicable fad to take over kiddie stores. From Tickle Me Elmo to Tamagotchis, TIME looks back at some of the most baffling toy trends of holidays past

Haven't heard of Zhu Zhu Pets yet? You will. The furry toy hamsters cost just $10 and slide around the floor squeaking and squealing adorably with the push of a button. Chunk, Pipsqueak, Squiggles and Numnums function in three modes: talk, explore and sleep. Zhu Zhus — the name, loosely translated, means "little pig" in Mandarin —
are also this year's must-have toy: stores nationwide are having trouble keeping the play rodents on shelves, while hard-to-find models are being auctioned for thousands of dollars on eBay. Oh, and they were also allegedly poisonous: in early December, a consumer-watchdog website reported finding toxic levels of heavy metals in Squiggles. Federal safety inspectors have since given the hamster a clean bill of health, which is nothing but good news for Cepia, the toy makers behind the motorized rodent. The small, St. Louis–based company expects to sell as many as 10 million Zhu Zhu pets by the end of the year.



Tamagotchi

These days, Tamagotchis — the handheld virtual pet that took the toy world by storm in the '90s — seem almost laughably low-tech, made primarily of cheap plastic and old-school LCD screens. But some 70 million of the ovoid timewasters have been sold worldwide since they debuted in Japan in 1996. According to Bandai, the Japanese company behind the craze, the name is a portmanteau of the Japanese word tamago, which means egg, and the English word watch, as in timepiece. Tamagotchi pets require constant attention including feeding, playtime, grooming and training. Neglected pets go hungry and pretty much die — or, in more kid-friendly parlance, produce a "game over" for their keepers. Some young owners were driven to care for their pets around the clock, even in school, prompting administrators to ban them. (And thus, a whole generation of latchkey Tamagotchi pets was born.)



Furby

How could kids not like a toy whose name is short for fur ball, and whose big eyes have blinking lids? When the Tiger Electronics toy debuted at the International Toy Fair in 1998, it quickly became the year's must-have plaything. Priced at $35 apiece, Furbies flew off shelves when they were released just before the holidays, and easily fetched more than three times that amount on the Internet. Youngsters liked the fact that the Gremlin-like creature conversed in its own language — Furbish — and "learned" to speak English thanks to the embedded computer chip that enabled it to repeat words it heard. In 2005, after 40 million units of the original toy had been sold worldwide, the company released a new version with advanced voice-recognition software and the ability to respond to questions. Such abilities made Furbies unwelcome guests in the offices of the National Security Agency because of the chance the toy could repeat confidential information. Meanwhile, airlines classified the toy as a personal electronic device and banned it from flights. Rest assured, though: Furby is not a terrorist.



Bratz Dolls

For more than 40 years, Barbie ruled as the queen of tween fashion dolls — until the Bratz came along in 2001 and curb stomped her back into the 1950s. Fans applauded the four original dolls — Yasmin, Sasha, Jade and Cloe — as the funky, edgy, multiracial alternative to Barbie's wholesome blandness. Parents, meanwhile, deplored them as far too adult (read: slutty) for kids, accusing the doe-eyed, pouty-lipped toys of fostering an unhealthy body image among young girls. The Bratz dolls wore provocative clothing and came with fabulous accessories like hot tubs and limousines; California-based MGA Entertainment, the company behind the dolls, earned more than $1 billion from them in just a few years. In 2006, Bratz became the best-selling fashion-doll line in the U.S., displacing Barbie for the first time. The blonde may have had the last laugh, however; Mattel sued MGA Entertainment, alleging that the Bratz dolls had been designed by a Mattel engineer working on company time who then left to start his own company. In 2008, a judge agreed, awarding Barbie's manufacturers $100 million and ordering MGA Entertainment to cease all production and sale of the Bratz dolls. The judgment has been suspended until the end of 2009 to allow MGA to appeal.



Tickle Me Elmo

These days, Tamagotchis — the handheld virtual pet that took the toy world by storm in the '90s — seem almost laughably low-tech, made primarily of cheap plastic and old-school LCD screens. But some 70 million of the ovoid timewasters have been sold worldwide since they debuted in Japan in 1996. According to Bandai, the Japanese company behind the craze, the name is a portmanteau of the Japanese word tamago, which means egg, and the English word watch, as in timepiece. Tamagotchi pets require constant attention including feeding, playtime, grooming and training. Neglected pets go hungry and pretty much die — or, in more kid-friendly parlance, produce a "game over" for their keepers. Some young owners were driven to care for their pets around the clock, even in school, prompting administrators to ban them. (And thus, a whole generation of latchkey Tamagotchi pets was born.) Read more, click here...



source: Time.com

A New Architectural Masterpiece for New York: 41 Cooper Square

A phenomenal new building by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne goes up in the East Village

Outside the Box
The Cooper Union is a tuition-free institution of higher learning located in Manhattan's East Village. Its spectacular new building for classrooms, laboratories and offices was designed by Thom Mayne of Morphosis, an architectural firm based in Santa Monica, California.



Wide Screen
The exterior of the building is a perforated steel scrim that acts as both a sunscreen and an instant attention-grabber. By its folds and slashes it provides a dynamic surface to what might otherwise be a standard stack of offices, classrooms and laboratories.




Around the Bend
Depending on the light that steel skin, which has a low, semi-matte luster, can project either cheese-grater roughness or elegant shimmer — or, oddly, both. The screen is also expected to reduce heatload by 50%.



Old School
The building is located diagonally across from the Cooper Union's brown Italianate Foundation building, which was the tallest building in New York when it was completed in 1859.



Steps Lively
Another striking feature of the building is its main staircase, which ascends from the ground level lobby upwards through a nine-story atrium, framed along its entire length by an undulating white gridwork.



Take a Seat
Mayne conceived of the staircase not just as a means by which to travel from floor to floor but as a social gathering place, a spot to sit and linger, like The Spanish Steps in Rome.



The Right Angles
The white grid frames the stairway dramatically, and differently, at every level.




Stairway to Heaven
At its topmost level the atrium culminates in a skylight.



New Kid on the Block
The buildings surrounding 41 Cooper Square — including a mansard-roofed masonry structure, a green-domed Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the glass and steel tower of a new hotel — typify the eclectic mix of Manhattan's East Village, a neighborhood that now has a very fascinating new neighbor.


source: Time.com

Are the U.S. and Europe Really That Different?

By Claire Suddath

Americans and Europeans consider each other culturally distinct. European nations have high tax rates and socialized medicine; in the U.S., people flock to fast-food restaurants and pile into SUVs. But according to Peter Baldwin, a professor of history at UCLA, the reigning stereotypes about both are mostly untrue. In The Narcissism of Minor Differences, a new book published Nov. 5, Baldwin collected data from dozens of different organizations and found that the U.S. and Europe are actually more alike than they are different. Baldwin talked to TIME about trans-Atlantic differences in religion, crime and health care — and why these distinctions matter.

In your book, you refer to the U.S. and Europe "twins keen to differentiate themselves." Why are we so intent on being different?
It has to do with domestic politics. Anti-Europeanism exists in America, but it's relatively minor aspect of the political discourse. Generally speaking, America doesn't pay much attention to Europe one way or the other. In Europe, on the other hand, anti-Americanism is a much more mainstream opinion. They think America is quite different, usually as something to be criticized. Anti-Americanism helps bridge political gaps within Europe. It's useful for Europe to have a whipping boy.

As you investigated our differences, what was something that surprised you?
The American train system surprised me. The American rail network is more extensive than commonly supposed, but it's not used for passenger transport; it's used for freight transport. Interestingly enough, Europeans use their railways for passengers but not for freight.

What misconceptions do we have about our differences?
Crime rates are a good example. The U.S. murder rate is always held up as exemplifying the contrast across the Atlantic. There's no getting around the fact that the murder rate in America is much higher than in European countries. The implication is that every other crime is equally high, but I knew that was simply not the case. For example, we have comparatively low rates of sexual assault.

Are there any areas where the U.S. and Europe really are vastly different?
Religion. That's where the differences remain the biggest. I think it's generally true that Americans are more religious than Europeans. The U.S. is more comparable to Mediterranean Catholic nations than the Protestant nations of Northern Europe. And religion in politics: American politicians give greater lip service to religion than is the case in Europe.

In your chapter about health and diets, I was shocked to find out that the average American's caloric intake isn't that much greater than it is in other countries.
Apparently not. And yet we're significantly more obese. That may have something to do with the fact that we don't walk or bicycle as much. Also, the surprising thing is that we're quite a bit more obese than other nations but we actually have fewer people in the "overweight" category.

What about the U.S. tax system? How does it compare to Europe's?
The U.S. tax rate is at the low end of the European scale. The big difference is we have no national VAT, or value-added tax. We rely on income and property tax for revenue, and our corporate tax is higher than that of most European nations. And yet, our system is very progressive. Rich Americans pay a larger share of their income in taxes than the richest Europeans do. We have a low absolute level of taxation but it's progressive by European standards.

Europeans have VAT and it's very, very high — in Nordic countries, it's somewhere between 20% and 25%. The average European pays a much higher percentage in overall budget every time they buy something, but European governments give it back in the form of social benefits. American social benefits tend to be limited to the poor, so there's a much clearer [wealth] redistribution through the tax system than there is in Europe.

And yet we have more people who live under the poverty line.
In terms of relative poverty, that's true. But if you look at absolute poverty, you get a different impression. Because our GDP per capita tends to be higher than in European countries, the people who fall below the poverty line here are not necessarily considered poor elsewhere.

What about health care? Is the U.S. health care system really that much worse than Europe's?
There are basically three numbers that always come up when people talk about the American health care system: average life expectancy, infant mortality and the mount of money we spend per head. Average life expectancy is at the low end of the European scale. We don't do well in terms of infant mortality either. [And] we spend almost twice as much per person in health-care expenditure. Fifteen percent of Americans don't have any insurance coverage. That's undeniable.

But if you look at every other attempt to measure outcomes, the American health care system isn't doing that badly. In terms of heart disease or cancer rates, they're about the same as those in European nations. If you look at cancer survival rates, we do quite well. Our system may not be the best, but it's not the worst. It works fantastically inefficiently, in that it costs us twice as much as any other country to achieve roughly the same results. So not only do we have to expand coverage but we have to cut costs at the same time. It's a deuce of a dilemma to be in.


source: Time.com

Where Will the Next Five Big Earthquakes Be?

Los Angeles
By BRYAN WALSH

Earthquakes have always been part of Los Angeles' past — and its future. In 1994 a 6.7-magnitude quake hit the Northridge area of the city, badly damaging freeways, killing more than 70 people and causing $20 billion in damages. But those numbers could be dwarfed by a major quake in the future. The geologic record indicates that huge quakes occur roughly every 150 years in the region — Los Angeles lies along the southern end of the San Andreas Fault — and the last big quake, which registered a magnitude 7.9, happened in 1857. Los Angeles has done a lot to beef up its building codes and emergency response in the 15 years since the Northridge quake and may be better prepared than any other major American city, but the city's sheer size ensures the next Big One will be bloody.


Tokyo
By BRYAN WALSH

Roughly the same size as California, Japan shares the Golden State's precarious plate tectonics. The nation's four main islands get hit regularly with earthquakes of varying strength. But while California has about 36 million people, Japan's population is nearly 4.5 times as large, and most Japanese live in extraordinarily dense cities. That puts more people squarely in a danger zone — nowhere more so than in the capital of Tokyo, which has a population of 13 million. A major quake struck the city and its surroundings in 1923, killing as many as 150,000 people. Although Japan has vastly improved its infrastructure since then and has the strictest building codes in the world, a similar temblor — which seismologists believe is almost inevitable — could kill more than 10,000 people and cause more than $1 trillion in damages.


Tehran
By BRYAN WALSH

All of Iran lies within a major earthquake zone, and the country has suffered terrible temblors before — most recently in 2003, when a 6.8-magnitude quake leveled the ancient city of Bam and killed more than 30,000 people. But a similar quake in the congested capital of Tehran — where more than 7 million people live — would be a shattering catastrophe. Unlike building codes in other endangered cities such as San Francisco and Tokyo, Tehran's are relatively lax, and many residents like in the sort of unreinforced-concrete houses that turn into death traps in the event of a strong quake. The Iranian Health Ministry once estimated that a 7-magnitude quake would destroy 90% of the city's hospitals. Tehran is so threatened that there has been periodic talk about moving the capital.


Pacific Northwest
By BRYAN WALSH

The rain-drenched residents of the Cascadia region — roughly from Oregon to southern British Columbia — probably assume that earthquakes are something for their neighbors in California to worry about. But Cascadia sits on top of major faults, and although it doesn't get hit very often, the region has been seen massive quakes before. The most recent one was in 1700, when a megathrust earthquake that may have been as severe as 9.2 on the Richter scale struck the region. The geological record indicates that a catastrophic quake hits Cascadia only about every 500 years, but the cities of the Pacific Northwest, like Seattle and Vancouver, are far less prepared than San Francisco and Los Angeles for a major earthquake, so when the next powerful temblor comes around, the Pac Northwest could suffer.


Indonesia
By BRYAN WALSH

It's called the Ring of Fire, a semicircle of violently shifting plates and volcanoes that runs along the edges of the Pacific Ocean, from New Zealand to Chile. The most seismically active region on the planet, the Ring of Fire has triggered countless quakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people, mostly in Southeast Asia. That tsunami was set off by a 9.3-magnitude quake near the northern coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, a region that has been hit repeatedly by massive temblors, most recently a 7.6 earthquake in September that killed more than 1,000 people. Sadly that's a relatively small quake death toll by Indonesian standards — and seismologists expect more to come in the future.


source: Time.com

Sheriff: Media Outlet May Be In On Balloon Hoax

FORT COLLINS, Colorado — The story that a little boy had floated away in a giant helium balloon was a hoax concocted to land a reality television show, authorities said, and the boy's parents will likely face felony charges.

The stunt two weeks in the planning was a marketing ploy by Richard and Mayumi Heene, who met in acting school in Hollywood and have appeared on the ABC reality show "Wife Swap," Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said Sunday. The Heenes have reportedly been working on a reality TV deal in Los Angeles.



Investigators are examining the possibility of other conspirators, "including the possibility that even some of the media outlets may have had some knowledge about this," Alderden said.

SLIDESHOW: View photos from the alleged hoax

Documents show that a media outlet has agreed to pay money to the Heenes with regard to the balloon incident, Alderden said. He didn't name the media outlet, but said it was a show that blurs "the line between entertainment and news." It wasn't clear whether the deal was signed before or after the alleged hoax, or whether that media outlet was a possible conspirator.

Alderden did not name an outlet or provide any details.

"Let's call it (my statement) short of speculation that a media outlet was in on the hoax, but let's not discount the possibility," he said.



Six-year-old Falcon Heene may not have even been hiding in the rafters of the family's garage during the intense five-hour search for him Thursday, Alderden said.

"For all we know he may have been two blocks down the road playing on the swing in the city park," the sheriff said.

Alderden also said investigators want to talk to Robert Thomas, a Denver man who claimed Heene had told him he was planning a media stunt to promote a proposed reality show. Thomas, a self-described researcher, sold his story to the Web site Gawker.com, which billed it with the headline: "Exclusive: I Helped Richard Heene Plan a Balloon Hoax."

Web site editor-in-chief Gabriel Snyder confirmed that the site paid Thomas for his story but declined to say how much it paid him. In an e-mail Sunday to The Associated Press, Snyder said editors there had not contacted the Heene family or offered them money for their story, referring to Alderden's reference to a deal being struck by a media outlet.

"No, that wasn't us," Snyder said.

Snyder said Thomas, 25, was planning to meet with investigators Sunday night, though sheriff's officials didn't return messages seeking confirmation.

Messages left for Thomas by the AP were also not returned.

In a statement, Gawker.com described how Thomas told them the hoax was part of Heene's plan to shop a proposed reality series billed as "Mythbusters-meets-mad scientist." Thomas told the site that the plan called for releasing a flying-saucer shaped balloon to garner attention for the Heene family, the proposed show and UFOs.

Thomas said in his Gawker.com story that the plan he knew about did not involve the Heenes' children.

Thursday's stunt temporarily shut down Denver International Airport and caused the National Guard to scramble two helicopters in an attempt to rescue the boy, who was believed to be inside the flying-saucer shaped homemade balloon that hurtled more than 50 miles across two counties.

The drama played out on live television to millions of viewers worldwide. When the balloon landed without the boy in it, officials thought he had fallen out and began grim search for his body.

In fact, the balloon — which was held together with duct tape — would not have been able to launch with the 37-pound(17-kilogram)-boy inside, Colorado State University physics professor Brian Jones has determined.



The parents weren't under arrest, the sheriff said. He said he expected to recommend charges of conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, making a false report to authorities and attempting to influence a public servant. Federal charges were also possible.

The most serious charges are felonies and carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Alderden said they would be seeking restitution for the costs, though he didn't have an estimate.

The cost for just the two military helicopters was about $14,500.



Richard and Mayumi Heene were shopping for snacks at Wal-Mart with their three sons as Alderden told reporters that the whole thing was a hoax.

Richard Heene told The Associated Press he was "seeking counsel."

"This thing has become so convoluted," Heene said as tears welled in his eyes. He said his wife was holding together better than he was.

The couple's attorney, David Lane, issued a statement later Sunday saying the Heenes were willing to voluntarily turn themselves in to face charges. Lane said he advised the family against making public statements.

The sheriff said all three of the Heenes' sons knew of the hoax, but likely won't face charges because of their ages. The oldest son is 10. One of the boys told investigators he saw his brother get in the balloon's box before it launched.

Heene, 48, a storm chaser and inventor, has described himself as an amateur scientist, but Alderden said Heene has only a high school education. He most recently earned a living by laying tile, the sheriff said.

"He may be nutty, but he's not a professor," Alderden said.

Alderden said that during the drama, the family's actions led them to believe the story was genuine. But during an interview on CNN Thursday night, Alderden said investigators had an "aha" moment when Falcon turned to his dad and said what sounded like "you had said we did this for a show" when asked why he didn't come out of his hiding place.

On Friday, Falcon got sick during two separate TV interviews when asked again why he hid.

Alderden said they didn't question the family Friday because they wanted to keep the family's cooperation by maintaining the appearance that they believed their story. Richard Heene was asked to stop by the sheriff's office under the pretext that he needed to pick up his balloon, and was questioned once he got there.

With Heene gone, other investigators went to the house. Alderden said they were looking for computers, e-mails, phone records and financial records.

Records show that police have responded to the house at least twice in the past year, including a possible domestic violence incident in February. No charges were filed.

Alderden said officials tried Saturday to persuade Mayumi Heene, 45, to go to a safe house, but she declined.

"We talked to her at length about domestic violence, about her safety, about her children's safety," the sheriff said. "We have a concern, but we didn't have enough that would allow us or child protective services to physically take the kids from that environment."

Alderden said the children were still with the parents Sunday and that child protective services had been contacted to investigate the children's well-being. On "Wife Swap," Heene was portrayed as erratic, at one point throwing a glass of milk on a participant on the program.

"Clearly, from all indications, Mr. Heene has somewhat of a temper," Alderden said.

As to the hoax that could end up with one or both in prison:

"It certainly got big and whether anybody realized it that it would get the type of international media attention, I suspect this is probably beyond what they thought," Alderden said.

The producers of "Wife Swap" in a statement said they had been working with the family on developing a show but weren't anymore. It was unclear whether that proposed show was the same one Robert Thomas said Heene was working on.


source: foxnews.com

Career Tips From Don Draper

By Nate Steere

The hit show Mad Men has added a new role model for men everywhere. Our list of influential men includes movie stars, rock legends, 00-agents, and now advertising agents. The cast and crew of Mad Men do a great job of transporting viewers to another time and place. And, as much as we love Roger Sterling, nobody embodies the manly qualities we're talking about like Don Draper. Jon Hamm's Golden Globe winning character recently finished first in our Top 49 Most Influential Men poll. So, what influence has Don had on your working style? Read on for some career tips we've gleaned from obsessing over episodes (we prefer to call it studying).

Play your position
No matter your title at work, play the position appropriately. This really boils down to knowing everything your job entails. Don always knows what deliverables his superiors, team and clients expect. As a leader, you should not consider any work to be “beneath you,” but you also need to be sure your team is doing their work, not just leaving it for you to pick up. Consider a manager whose team consistently leaves the bathroom a mess. If you were in this manager's shoes, would you talk to each member of your team, having a talk about bathroom standards that was boring and non-confrontational, but still left no doubt as to what you expected of your staff in terms of how to maintain the bathroom? If you're like most managers the answer is no; you'd simply start cleaning the bathroom yourself so you didn't have to have that uncomfortable talk with your staff. Keep the image in your mind -- some managers would rather clean up the toilets than tell an employee what to do.

Make it about the work
Do you come to work to make friends or to work? Don Draper certainly cares more about his work than he cares about the people on his team. Certainly, there is no need to be aggressive or to be a jerk, but this career tip from Don Draper highlights that friendship isn't the main reason to show up every morning. Go to work to get things accomplished and be effective. If you can be friends with those you work with (and it's almost always the case) that's even better, but never forget that it's also just a bonus. You might like the people you work with, but you don't show up at 9 a.m. every day because you like them.

Keep your mouth shut
One of the fundamental rules of knowledge as power is to never give away information when it does not benefit you. If you are in a position that affords you exclusive knowledge, the more people you give this knowledge to, the more diluted your power becomes. The rule here is simple: Keep your mouth shut -- and do it as much as you can (and the less you say the better). Your personal life, who in the office is hooking up, your boss' golf game -- all of that is valuable information in one way or another. Don't hand it out unless you have to. Don embodies all of these qualities. In fact, one of the very few times Don blows his cool is when he overhears the team dragging Freddy Rumsen's name through the mud.

This applies to everything except the work. If accounting asks for the month's numbers, send them over (a reply of “knowledge is power” would get you fired). Talk about the work as much as you like; if nothing else, it keeps you from talking about your private life or any juicy office gossip. Who do you respect more: The person who's always talking with you about the next big project at work or the person who's always telling you about their problems at home? Don Draper is a master in keeping his business private -- two words: Dick Whitman.

Respect what you do
Do you work with people who act like what they do is a joke? Not their industry, not their division, but their own individual job as a joke? You know, the guy who takes twice the smoke breaks of anyone else or who is always prowling the workplace, looking for somebody who's free to talk? Besides wasting time, this person is sending a clear message that they don't take their job too seriously. If you don't take what you do seriously, why should anybody else in the organization? You need to come to work every day convinced that you play a crucial role. Many men wonder why they don't command more respect in the workplace, yet they don't carry themselves with respect. This career tip from Don Draper teaches us the opposite: There's no need to brag about past success and no need to overstate your role, but never act as if your job is unimportant or your contributions aren't central to your team's success.

Dress the part
Don't overdress or underdress -- always dress for the occasion. Show up looking as snappy as you can while still looking like you're ready to hit the phones, not the clubs (or worse, the greens). We've covered plenty of fresh looks for men on the site, so be sure to study up if you're fashion impaired. Don't chase this month's fashion, stick with timeless looks that suit any situation -- some of the clothing on Mad Men are as current today as it was back then. Don't show up looking wrinkled and disheveled. If you work in an office where collared shirts and ties are expected, keep a spare tie that goes with most outfits in your desk drawer. That way, if you stain your tie before a big meeting, you're covered. If you really want to be on your game, keep some Shout wipes and a small bottle of wrinkle releaser on hand as well.

master the mad men model
No question, our man Don Draper always makes things look easy -- during business hours at least. However, just because he makes it all look natural doesn't mean that these techniques can't be learned. Some of the subtleties of correct workplace maneuvering have to be on you before they're in you -- you'll need to do them consciously until they become more natural, until eventually you do them automatically. Don't expect to become an expert in something as difficult as learning to keep your mouth shut overnight; these are things you'll need to work at. If you can commit the time to making these behaviors a natural part of your workplace persona, you'll be able to get more done and get more respect while you do it. And that's the surest way to get ahead.


source: askmen.com

U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds

The Thunderbirds are scheduled to per-form more than 73 shows in the United States, Puerto Rico and the Far East.

The 2009 air show schedule
Bangkok, Thailand Oct.10, 2009
Chitose, Japan Oct.15, 2009
Hamamatsu, Japan Oct.17, 2009
Misawa AB, Japan Oct.18, 2009
Osan AB, Korea Oct.21, 2009
Soeul AB, Korea Oct. 23/24/25, 2009
Homestead ARB, FL Nov. 7/8/, 2009
Nellis AFB, NV Nov.14/15, 2009

The G20 Summit in the Pittsburgh Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) holds a news conference with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (C) at the G20 Summit in the Pittsburgh Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 25, 2009.




U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown speak during a bilateral meeting at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania September 25, 2009.



PITTSBURGH - SEPTEMBER 25: Riot policemen block off a street after breaking up a protest against the G-20 Summit early on September 25, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Riot police with attack dogs turned out in force to quell the protest. U.S. President Barack Obama greeted world leaders the previous evening to kick off the two-day G-20 summit at Pittsburgh's convention center aimed at promoting global economic growth.



PITTSBURGH - SEPTEMBER 25: Riot police clear the streets after a protest against the G-20 Summit early on September 25, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Riot police with attack dogs turned out in force to quell the protest. U.S. President Barack Obama greeted world leaders the previous evening to kick off the two-day G-20 summit at Pittsburgh's convention center aimed at promoting global economic growth.



German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, talks with Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the morning plenary session at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009.



South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, left, sits with South Korean Minister of Strategy and Finance Yoon Jeung-hyun during the start of the morning plenary session at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009.



President Barack Obama talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao, left, as other Chinese officials look on, at the morning plenary session of the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009.



Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, left, and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal take part in the morning plenary session at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009.



Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, center, is seated with Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, right, as French President Nicolas Sarkozy talks with French official Xavier Musca at the start of the morning plenary session at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009.




CORAOPOLIS, PA - SEPTEMBER 24: Abhisit Vejjajiva, Prime Minister of Thailand, arrives for the G-20 Pittsburgh Summit at the Pittsburgh International Airport September 24, 2009 in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. Heads of state from the world's leading economic powers are scheduled to arrive in Pittsburgh for the summit which takes place September 24 and 25.



US President Barack Obama (2ndL) and US First Lady Michelle Obama (R) welcome Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva (L) and his wife Pimpen Sakuntabhai to the G20 dinner at the Phipps Conservatory on September 24, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania



PITTSBURGH - SEPTEMBER 24: A protestor cries from tear gas fired on marchers by riot police during an unpermitted march against the G-20 Summit on September 24, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Marchers gathered in neighborhoods several miles from Pittsburgh's downtown but were dispersed by police bearing tear gas and amplification machines. Dignitaries begin arriving for the G-20 Summit today while authorities vow to prevent expected protests from disrupting the meeting.


credit photo: Reuters picture, AP photo