Latest News and Politics from the U.S. - Huffington Post [May ‘11 Series]

Darell Hammond (not to be confused with the similarly named "SNL" alum) is very serious about playing around. He's spent more than 15 years establishing KaBOOM!, the nonprofit he founded in 1996, as a national leader in civic development, building playgrounds from the ground up for communities in need, and encouraging kids, and adults, to play as much as they can."This work has given me a sense of purpose," Darell told The Huffington Post, in an interview on Thursday. "Playgrounds are an example of what's possible in these desperate times."More...

Source: HuffPost Greatest Person Of The Day: Darell Hammond And KaBOOM! Want You To Play

Is "revenge surgery" a growing trend? According to a study by the Transform Cosmetic Group in Britain, 26 percent of people getting plastic surgery are newly divorced women.ABC's Ashleigh Banfield spoke to several women about their post-split operations, including Alicia Hunter, a single mother of two who lost 60 pounds and got breast implants and Botox after her divorce.More...

Source: Revenge Surgery: Women Going Under The Knife Post Divorce

Your boss is evil. Your spouse is lazy. Your teenager doesn't listen. Your best friend won't return your calls. Your relationships are complicated. Any attempt to create lasting harmony when facing the inevitable flaws and countless complexities of another human being can make you feel powerless. But before you condemn yourself to a lifetime of solitude, consider this: the one common denominator in all of life's miscommunications, arguments, break-ups and falling-outs is also the one thing that you have control over: you.Yes, we will all face many an injustice at our jobs, and yes, we will probably date at least one person who treats us poorly. We will have to deal with a cranky salesperson and withstand an unruly family member. It is easy to feel victimized by our lives, especially when we find ourselves at one of life's low points and we are pouring all of our energy into just picking ourselves back up again. But how much of our destiny do we control? How much are we victims of circumstance and how much are we victims of ourselves?More...

Source: Your Critical Inner Voice: Are You Letting It Sabotage Your Relationships?

NORTH HOLLYWOOD (KTLA) -- Police are searching for a suspect Saturday morning after a fight ended with an officer being assaulted and another victim hospitalized.Officers responded to a fight call around 3:20 a.m. Saturday at the Hacienda Corona Nightclub on the 11600 block of Friar Street.More...

Source: Man Runs Over Friend, Officer After Nightclub Fight

Fight fans in Las Vegas last weekend were drawn to the WBO welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao and Sugar Shane Mosley at the famous MGM Grand Garden Arena. However, it was another fight that same day -- an impromptu match on the Vegas Strip involving a masked caped crusader -- that has gone viral.The video, (scroll down to watch) posted on YouTube earlier this week by Marcus DeWayne Pace of Huntsville, Texas, shows a single-round brawl between an unidentified male in a white shirt and a street performer dressed as Batman.More...

Source: 'Batman' Gets Beatdown On Las Vegas Strip (VIDEO)

Sure, you can have a leisurely day poolside at the local YMCA -- or you can get seriously wet ‘n’ wild at one of these local water parks. We choose the latter.Water World: Set an entire day aside for an adventure at this gargantuan park. With 67 acres, it’s one of the nation’s largest water parks: lazy river, water-themed fun house, a slew of thrill rides – think tidal wave-inducing roller coasters – and gravity-defying slides, as well as a couple of wave pools. Check online for height restrictions for the more extreme experiences; head to North Shore’s Wally World for a calm day with little ones.More...

Source: Ready For Summer? Denver's Best Water Parks

Paris -- The apparent self-destruction of Dominique Strauss-Kahn in a New York hotel is emblematic of a European left that has ceased to be much of a progressive alternative, either in terms of lifestyle or policy alternatives. Strauss-Kahn was the Socialist front-runner to challenge French President Nicolas Sarkozy next year. Polls showed that Strauss-Kahn was the only socialist who could beat both Sarkozy and far right populist Marine Le Pen.But even before this latest scandal broke, Strauss-Kahn didn't seem like much of a socialist. Last week, the press caught DSK, as the local press calls him, and his wife tooling around in a borrowed $150,000 Porsche, which reinforced his image as wealthy playboy. In 2008, Strauss-Kahn barely survived a widely publicized affair with one of his IMF employees.More...

Source: Strauss-Kahn and the European Left

Few things are better for the soul than a sunny, crisp autumn day surrounded by colorful foliage and a light breeze.  Longing for just that? Take a five-minute virtual trip to Chestnut Cove in North Carolina.  Meditating on the subtle sway of pink leaves is a healthy break from the flurry of emails and meetings -- even if you're not actually sitting on a log cabin porch in the Southern Appalachians.WATCH:More...

Source: Unplug And Recharge: 5 Minutes In Chestnut Cove (VIDEO)

Last week, the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities released a study on arts education and the news is bleak.  Taking information on a 2008 report from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Los Angeles Times recently reported: "Among children of a college graduate, 27% said they had never taken even one arts class, compared with 12% in 1982. For children of high school graduates, the number who'd never had any arts study rose from 30% nearly 30 years ago to 66% in 2008."This radical diminution in exposure of children to arts education has dire consequences for our arts ecology as well as our nation as a whole.More...

Source: The Future of the Arts/ The Future of America

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) pushed back on Monday against criticisms about his budget, saying Democrats were attacking his plans for Medicare while pursuing plans that would hurt today’s seniors.Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, has come under fire for the major spending cuts in his 2012 budget, which passed through the House in April without Democratic support. Democrats quickly latched onto Ryan’s proposal for Medicare, which would replace the current guaranteed health care program with a voucher-like plan in which the government provided seniors money to purchase their own insurance -- if they are able to afford it.More...

Source: Paul Ryan Defends Medicare Plan