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During his 13-year career as an All-Star catcher, Mike Scioscia earned a reputation for being as tough as anyone when it came to blocking home plate. But in a sport filled with nostalgia, even Scioscia wouldn't mind seeing a few modifications. "I think everyone is in agreement that the mindless collisions at home plate where a catcher is being targeted by a runner, that needs to be addressed," the Los Angeles Angels manager said.

All is not well in the luxury world. Stalwart luxury buyers in China are cutting back, according to recent statements from Burberry and Richemont, among others. New data from research firm Euromonitor International confirms that the industry is in a bit of a slump. Global luxury sales are on track to grow by 3% this year, the slowest rate in four years. Euromonitor reckons that growth will pick up next year, though, driven by its strongest segment in recent years: accessories, specifically men’s accessories. The luxury goods industry has been “manning up” of late, says Fflur Roberts of Euromonitor. A...

Thinking about some of the other articles linked in the comments section as it relates to the topic in this earlier post about how children are being conditioned by our schools to view guns, I came across the following video that resonates with the ring of truth: http://youtu.be/GWRdHXbTmrsRandomly stumbled upon this article that mentions: 3) Dodgeball — The Wyndham School District in New Hampshire banned dodgeball and other “human target” games to prevent bullying, the Eagle-Tribune reported. Even before Sandy Hook, allowance of dodgeball, I believe, has been on the wane due to being "too violent". Are the adults making...

On Sunday perhaps the biggest audience ever to see a Super Bowl will gather in front of televisions for parties of their own. The game has become America’s unofficial national holiday, its tradition of chip eating, beer drinking and commercial watching as deeply ingrained in the country’s fabric as turkey and stuffing. We celebrate the game even as it takes a brutal toll on those who play it. Football is a hurt business, and the biggest cheers on Sunday will be for those who deliver the biggest hits. … It’s hard to comprehend, and it may be the ultimate paradox....

(1918 Bolshevik Poster by Alexander Apsit reads "Citizens, hand over your weapons!") Why I gave up my guns • A former firearm enthusiast explains his personal epiphany Late one night in the spring of 2008, I was jolted awake by the sound of yet another a burglar trying to break into my Atlanta home. We’d already had a series of scary close calls, but this time I was ready: I had staged my shotgun and a box of shells in a broom closet right by the back door, next to the umbrellas. While my girlfriend called the police, I...

The General Lee – Bo and Luke Duke’s vehicle of choice from ‘The Dukes of Hazzard‘ – is a classic and instantly recognizable Hollywood car. But it’s about to get a little less recognizable as Warner Bros., the studio that owns the theatrical, DVD and licensing rights to ‘The Dukes of Hazzard,’ has decided to remove the confederate flag from all future versions of the car. The news has reportedly been floating around the hobby community over the past few days as ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ collectors became aware of a new regulation. A collector on HobbyTalk.com was told by a...

New Playgrounds Are Safe—and That's Why Nobody Uses Them The problem with safety guidelines is that they make most playgrounds so uninteresting as to contribute to reduced physical activity. Playgrounds don't look like they used to. Steep metal slides and wooden towers have given way to slow, plastic slides and carefully penned-in climbing contraptions. And forget about seesaws -- they're a thing of the past. When kids are bored by unimaginative (read: safe) playground equipment, they're less active as a result, and with childhood obesity at epidemic proportions, that's a danger, too. An interesting new investigation looks into this phenomenon....

When did the media become a bunch of girly men? The latest dispatch from Sarah Palin’s Magical Mystery Tour reveals that our tough media are a bunch of pansies who get the vapors when a bus goes ten miles over the speed limit. Politico recently reported that Sarah Palin’s bus is “a rolling menace.” The evidence? Palin’s bus went 52 mph in a 35 mph zone. That’s, um, 17 mph over the limit. Also, they “flew right past a flashing sign informing them they were going 45 mph in a 35 mph zone.” They also ran a couple red lights...

Gordon Brown said the attacks were "shocking and tragic" as he also promised the first ever "cross-government youth crime plan" would be published later next week. A teenager was among four victims of separate fatal stabbings which took place in London over the past day, as a fifth man fights for life.

Gordon Brown declared tonight that new anti-knife crime measures will be announced next week after four men were stabbed to death in separate attacks across London in just 24 hours. The Prime Minister said the latest spate of murders was “shocking and tragic” a few hours after the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police issued a rare appeal for calm in the capital. Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, will set out the Government’s latest initiative on Monday. Later in the week, the first ever cross-government youth crime plan will be published with new enforcement and sentencing measures. It will also include...

We have become a nation of women. It wasn’t always this way, of course. There was a time when men put their signatures to a document, knowing full well that this single act would result in their execution if captured, and in the forfeiture of their property to the State. Their wives and children would be turned out by the soldiers, and their farms and businesses most probably given to someone who didn’t sign the document. There was a time when men went to their certain death, with expressions like “You all can go to hell. I’m going to Texas.”...

Every time I buckle my son into his car seat - positioned between the side impact air bags and above the antilock brakes in our five-star safety-rated automobile - I think about my preferred mode of travel in the summer of 1983. I spent that season at the Connecticut wilderness home of a friend from elementary school, who was moving from the Bay Area to the East Coast. When it was time to drive the station wagon down the mountain road, his father would often give us a choice: Would we like to ride in the backseat or on the...

Lego has upset fans by giving some of its play figures realistic-looking guns and pistols. For generations its products have been seen as providing harmless fun - it was even said that for years it refused to supply green bricks in case boys used them to make tanks. But critics accuse it of changing its stance, partly because of tie-ins with big-budget films and partly to counter the challenge of action-packed computer games. The new versions of its Star Wars Stormtroopers now carry guns so large they can hardly hold them, despite the previous ones having nothing more alarming...

In interviews with a job candidate last year, Deborah D'Attilio, a recruiting manager in San Francisco for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, was surprised when the young woman brought a companion: her dad. Saying ''he was interested in learning about the work environment,'' the father sat in the lobby during the interview, D'Attilio says. She didn't hold it against the candidate and wound up hiring the young woman. Hovering parents are going to work. From Vanguard Group and St. Paul Travelers to General Electric and Boeing, managers are getting phone calls from parents asking them to hire their 20-something kids. Candidates are stalling...

I must confess that it's probably been two decades since I've done any Christmas shopping for kids. So I was a bit taken aback when I visited ShopKo last week - searching for an action toy for my 4-year-old grandson - and happened upon a black soft air rifle that fires plastic BBs and bears a striking resemblance to an assault weapon. Yes, the same kind of assault weapon that gangs have used to gun down police. (Actually, it wasn't a total surprise: Several weeks earlier, a reader had called and suggested I check out some of the sophisticated fake...

(CNSNews.com) - The thought that John Bolton might be confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations brought one Republican senator to the brink of tears on Wednesday. Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) choked up on the Senate floor, as he urged his colleagues to vote against Bolton's nomination on Thursday: ''I'm afraid that when we go to the [Senate] well, that too many of my colleagues -- (voice breaking) -- that too many of my colleagues are not going to understand that this appointment is very, very important to our country," Voinovich said. "At a strategic time, when we...

Most soccer players on the Santa Clara University women's team will enter the N.C.A.A. quarterfinals today wearing protective equipment - headgear - that is as controversial as it is lightweight. In the 15 months since FIFA, soccer's world governing body, began permitting its use, headgear has been worn by thousands of American players from youth leagues to high schools to colleges to the pros. The headgear gained international visibility during the 2003 Women's World Cup and the Athens Olympics this summer. This has triggered skepticism within the United States Soccer Federation, which contends that marketing to the fears of parents...

There's something about a campfire that makes us gaze. Our eyes focus on the dancing flames. We stare. We contemplate. We don't know what we're thinking about, as we poke the embers for no apparent reason, but we feel as warm inside as the middle of a toasted marshmallow. Just last week, when an early September chill grasped the night air, we piled a bunch of sticks inside a ring of rocks in the backyard and struck a match. We never had the patience to rub two sticks together. There's something about a campfire that attracts the neighbors' kids. Or...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey threw a cup of ice water over his head and splashed a child in the first quarter of the NFC playoffs against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. The emotional Shockey, who often alienates opposing fans and players by his demonstrative nature, was being heckled by fans at the time. Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon said no one was hurt, and the rookie tight end was not restrained by security. It happened shortly after Shockey thought linebacker Julian Peterson had held him on an incomplete third-down pass. "I think it...