Montenegro Reaches for Respectability With Port

TIVAT, Montenegro — “This is better than St. Tropez,” Milo Djukanovic, the prime minister of Montenegro, exclaimed as he took in a display of yachts berthed in this mountain-shrouded bay on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Hardly. But if Mr. Djukanovic and a group of foreign businessmen supporting him have their way, the port of Tivat, now just 20 percent complete, could become a new playground for the super-rich and the centerpiece o ... Jump to full article >>

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Elvis as you’ve never seen him

It’s taken 30 years for John Carpenter’s film biography of the King to arrive in Britain. It’s a strange fact that just as Elvis Presley fans in Britain hoped to see their hero perform here, but were repeatedly denied the chance, so most of them have never seen a hugely popular American biopic that covers the first half of his astonishing career. Elvis, as the film was simply called, was broadcast on ABC-TV in the US in February 1979, to gr ... Jump to full article >>

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R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. wins Pa. appeal in advertising case

HARRISBURG, PA. — A Pennsylvania appellate court is siding with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in a lawsuit over advertising that the company ran in Rolling Stone magazine in 2007. The state Commonwealth Court’s Tuesday decision overturned a Philadelphia judge who ordered Reynolds to pay a $302,000 fine or pay for an anti-smoking ad in a Pennsylvania edition of the magazine. At issue was a fold-out Camel ad promoting independent record labels ... Jump to full article >>

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It’s Hello Cancer, Goodbye Inhibitions

Death so often seems senseless — except on television. Network shows almost always shroud death in veils of purpose, maybe because without them, mortality is all the more terrifying. No matter how brutally characters exit, they are killed off for a good narrative reason: so homicide detectives can seek a murderer; so doctors can try to save them; or most simply, so loved ones can find meaning in mourning. The few series that traffic in the su ... Jump to full article >>

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Government seizes untaxed cigarettes in Minnesota

Authorities seized thousands of untaxed cartons of cigarettes across the state recently, the Minnesota Department of Revenue announced Monday. Nearly 10,300 cartons containing 2 million cigarettes were seized by state and federal authorities between May 2009 and June 2010. Most of the cigarettes were sold by American websites but manufactured in Ukraine. In many cases, cigarettes sold over the Internet are counterfeit and often made in unsanitary ... Jump to full article >>

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Bilbray gets burned by his cigars — Tracy Emblem takes on congressman’s stogie lobbying

It is not surprising that Americans for Prosperity appeared in North San Diego County to support Congressman Brian Bilbray as reported by an area newspaper on August 12. Bilbray, for those who are unaware, sponsored the Congressional Cigar Association (CCA) in February 2009. The CCA has lobbyist board members and supports the tobacco and cigar industry. CCA events allow lobbyists to have direct contact and influence with congressional staff. Ear ... Jump to full article >>

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