On a Saturday afternoon, I ride my bike through the streets of downtown Brownsville, Texas. I pass old brick storefronts on both sides with boarded second stories and wrought iron balconies, tributes to a city that boomed in the late 19th century. Between streets that bear the names of U.S. presidents - Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe - is a crumbling cemetery with gravestones dating far back into Brownsville's past. The concrete walls are worn to expose rusted rebar, but the cemetery is aflutter with eye-catching fabric flowers, bright as the day they were dyed.I pass through Washington Park and smile, knowing that it will be packed in a few weeks with musicians and fans, that tejano, grupero and mariachi will wail at a three-day party, Charro Days - the South Texas equivalent of Mardis Gras or Carnival.

Ministers warn PM of English resentment

There is also further evidence of rising English nationalism with support for the establishment of an English parliament hitting an historic high of 68 per cent amongst English voters. Almost half – 48 per cent – also want complete independence for England, divorcing itself from Wales and Northern Ireland as well. Scottish voters also back an English breakaway with 58 per cent supporting an English parliament with similar powers to the Scottish one.

The dramatic findings came as Gordon Brown, the favourite to succeed Tony Blair as Prime Minister, delivered an impassioned defence of the Union at Labour's Scottish conference in Oban yesterday.

Nobody's winning this war of words

Among recurring questions asked in the build-up to the writers strike (starting with "Will there be one?," and I got that right) has been which side is "winning" the battle of public opinion.

Since perspective is invariably the first casualty in such an emotional dispute, let's answer that with another question: Who did you passionately support during the strike-shortened 1999 NBA basketball season or the 2004 NHL lockout that body-checked hockey?

If the knee-jerk response is "A pox on both their houses," bingo.

Comparisons to sports -- where billionaire owners square off with millionaire talent -- are admittedly imprecise, but the obvious parallels include careers with extremely lucrative potential that tend to be equally fleeting. Moreover, the irritation associated with depriving people of a beloved pastime is fundamentally the same.

Local woman is finalist in nation wide model search

As a 50 -year-old woman. Laura Lasko has done a lot of things. Theres the scuba diving and traveling, and the time she survived hurricane Wilma. Shes a certified yoga instructor, and licensed counselor for troubled teens. Shes even going to ASU to get her Doctorate degree. So no one was surprised when she entered the More Magazine / Wilhelmina 40+ Model Search. What is surprising, is that out of nearly 16,000 entries, Laura is one of ten finalists. She will be heading to New York early next week to compete for a $15,000 dollar Wilhelmina modeling contract and other prizes valued at $90,000 dollars.

More magazine has been around for close to ten years, and is geared towards women in their 40s and 50s. It focuses on health, beauty, social issues for women, fashion its been wonderful, says Lasko.