Top-level tennis always seemed like so much hard work for Justine Henin, the little David who slew countless Lady Goliaths in an illustrious career she chose to end on Wednesday, at age 25.

The Belgian will not go for a fourth consecutive title at the French Open, which begins in 10 days. She chose not to try one last time to win Wimbledon the one Grand Slam that eluded her.

She just said goodbye, simply, Wednesday afternoon in a news conference at her new tennis facility in Limelette, Belgium.

"This is the end of a child's dream," she said, "Maybe people will think I'm still young, but in life there are no rules. I've invested enormously in my sport. Since I was five, I've only lived for that."

It's a shocker, no doubt about it. Try to think of an athlete, in any sport, who retired so young, at the top of their game, for no apparent reason other than they had just had enough.

Perhaps the only real comparison would be Bjorn Borg, who was 26 when he inexplicably hung up his wooden rackets.

The comparison is apt; the Swede was the Ice Man on the outside. But keeping all of the nerves, the pressure and the anxiety away from public view had totally demolished his insides.

Burnout doesn't happen as often in the men's game, because men compete so very differently than women.

Coincidentally, golfer Annika Sorenstam announced Tuesday this will be her last year on the LPGA Tour. But Sorenstam turns 38, will marry next January and start a family, and has been at it 15 years. She has also become a corporation, with many off-course pursuits, including course design, to keep her busy.

Henin, whose life has been swallowed whole by her single-minded pursuit of excellence, is not at that point.

But the two have this in common: they leave at the top.

Henin leaves tennis much as Martina Navratilova did, a once-misunderstood champion who had finally revealed enough of herself to get the like of the people, if not their love.

Over the last year, she unloaded a husband she had married too young, a substitute for the family structure she had cast aside for her career. Then, she reconnected with that family.

A more open, human, engaging person emerged from the protective cocoon she had wrapped around herself ever since the death of her mother at age 12. A likable person.

Perhaps Henin herself also liked that new person, wanted more time to get to know her. She wasn't going to be able to do it and still stay at the top.

So she left.

And it doesn't appear there are any regrets. Only relief.

Her game, on the other hand, was always appreciated: the dreamy one-handed backhand, the variety, the thoughtfulness.

The stylists of the women's game are fading away. Martina Hingis is gone, Amelie Mauresmo seems destined to follow in Henin's footsteps soon.

The Maria Sharapova ball-bashing clones keep coming, in droves.

Henin will be missed more than she probably thinks.

When news spread through town that ABC had passed over the Gilligan family for a spot on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, family friends and supporters decided they were not going to accept no for an answer.

The Gilligan Family Alliance, headed by Paul Silva and Kat Knight, decided to take matters into their own hands and do something to improve the lives of the Gilligans.

The GFA launched last week, a Web site designed to solicit donations, volunteers and maybe most importantly to allow visitors to leave comments which are forwarded to the Marblehead Selectmen and ABC in the hopes the Gilligan family could be reconsidered for the show.

"Patrick and Amy Gilligan are my neighbors and friends. Given the burdens which they face on a daily basis, they amaze us all with their resiliency and upbeat natures. I am proud to be involved in this effort to rekindle the possibility of improving their situation," Silva said. "The benefit to their special needs' children would almost be immeasurable. I encourage anyone not familiar with the story behind the Gilligan Family Alliance to peruse this Web site and learn the story that has inspired so many of us."

Parents Patrick and Amy Gilligan do not complain about their problems, they just struggle day-to-day with everything life has thrown at them.

Their only son, Jackson, suffers from autism; daughter Karlyn has cystic fibrosis; and daughter Allison, who had lost the function of both kidneys, was on dialysis for a year before receiving a kidney transplant from her father. Not to be lost in all of this is oldest daughter, Alexandra, who, according to the Web site has had the greatest understanding of all the Gilligan kids as to the depth and seriousness of her siblings' health and who has always cared about someone else's needs before her own.

Read the complete story

 Charlotte, NC One day ... one stinking day? For all of you mothers out there, and you know who you are, one day of sleeping in, breakfast in bed, some flowers and a few well-meaning gifts just doesn't cut it.

Being a mom is like running a small corporation except that one person has all the titles and all the responsibilities. As a mom, you are often the CEO, the CFO, the director of transportation, the executive chef, line cook and waitress, wardrobe designer, groundskeeper, human resources director, facilities manager, janitor, and nurse.

Without a shot at getting four weeks vacation from all those jobs, social networking site ConnectingMoms.com has declared the entire month of May as Mothers Month.

"All moms are working moms," says ConnectingMoms.com co-founder and chief mom officer Shell Luba. "Whether that includes time at an outside job is beside the point. One job outside the home cannot come close to the total of responsibilities that every mom has in the home."

A previous research study documented that working moms spent 44 hours a week at their "work job" and just under 50 hours a week at their "mom job," a total of 94 hours per week while stay-at-home moms estimated working about 92 hours at the mom job.

In a poll conducted by ConnectingMoms for CNN last year, most women reported that the best gift their husbands could give them was simply a "day off". Since that would have to come from hubby, to celebrate Mothers Month, ConnectingMoms has partnered with the AdverGame Network in presenting a couple of fun and easy to play casual games that will be awarding truly useful prizes for both mother and child.

Read the complete story

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) received their highest ranking ever in the latest 2007-2008 U.S. Sports Academy Director's Cup. The Hawks currently stand 115th with 100 points, points they received for winning the 2008 NCAA Women's Bowling Championship.

The program, sponsored by the United State's Sports Academy and administered by the National Association of Collegiate Director's of Athletics (NACDA) is a program that honors institutions maintaining a broad-based program, achieving success in many sports, both men's and women's. Began in 1993-94 for Division I by NACDA and USA Today, it was expanded in 1995-96 to include Division II, III and the NAIA.

The winner, who receives a crystal trophy is the institution that records the highest number of points in their division's U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup standings. Each institution is awarded points in a pre-determined number of sports for men and women. For Division I schools there are ten men and ten women's sports selected.

UMES is one point behind American University and 23 shy of cracking the top 100. They sit ranked above such perennial powers as Kent State, Rice, UNLV, Fresno State, George Washington, Syracuse and Dayton.

Read the complete story

Note to sons and daughters: Sunday is Mother's Day. It's once a year, so there is no excuse for not remembering that person who brought you into the world. Of course the Record over the years has devoted an appropriate amount of space to mothers, some of which follows. Something interesting is seen in an article below dated May 11, 1923 concerning the wearing of a red or white flower on Mother's Day.

 Our Mother - Oct. 4, 1889

The subject suggested in the title is a one that seldom received much discussion, although it is one that ought to rank high in the circles of literature.

We are sorry to say that a great many children do not prize their mothers half as much as they should. They are young and thoughtless, and it does not occur to them that they are doing that which displeases that kind parent, and so it goes on. They get used to have their own way, that it is impossible to yield to the wishes of others, thinking as some do that they are being wrongly advised.

Read the complete story

Newfoundland and Labrador's former deputy minister of health has testified Eastern Health made matters worse by involving the provincial government from the start of an unfolding cancer testing crisis.John Abbott told the Cameron inquiry, which is examining how hundreds of breast cancer patients received inaccurate results of hormone receptor tests, that Eastern Health ought to have dealt with its lab issues without engaging the provincial Health Department so soon.Abbott was deputy minister of health in July 2005, when Eastern Health realized it had serious problems with its hormone receptor testing program. At that point, the authority was beginning to have samples retested in Toronto, and would not know for several months that error-plagued testing stretched between 1997 and 2005.Abbott said it was a mistake for Eastern Health to have brought the Health Department into the process while it was still figuring out its problems, and that doing so created confusion."This was and still is, in my mind, a significant operational issue that is left and should be left in the health authority's hands to address, resolve and communicate," Abbott told Justice Margaret Cameron."As we've seen, it got murky, at best, and consequently the lines [were] blurred."The inquiry has already been told about a flurry of e-mails and phone calls around government offices in July 2005, when officials first learned of the lab problems.

Read the complete story

Bio Ionic professional hair care system was launched in India by renowned hair stylist Fernando Romero. He combined beauty with science and commerce to establish Bio Ionic.

Romero explained the need for Bio Ionic products, which improves the hair structure by naturally moisturizing and conditioning. Hair becomes smoother, softer, stronger and shinier with fewer frizzes and static –free.

According to him, “The Indian hair texture is very much like the Mexicans, frizzy due to humidity levels and prone to damage due to loss of water content that makes hair rigid. The Bio Ionic system is a system utilizes natural ion complex (NIC) to strengthen and repair the texture.”

Ayaz Kabani, CEO Beauty Essential Marketing Pvt. Ltd. explained, “Bio Ionic works not only for professionals and celebrities, but also for all who face the most diverse form of climatic conditions.’’

Distributed and marketed in India by Beauty Essential Marketing Pvt. Ltd., Bio Ionic brings a vast range of products to India that include Bio Ionic’s ReTeX System, Super Hydrator Treatment and iTools, a range of conditioning appliances. Bio Ionic products will be available in select salons.

At Champ's Barbershop School here, Maria Hall, the owner's wife, said she registered to vote for the first time so she could cast a ballot for Democrat Barack Obama. "I think he's going to be a great president," said Hall, 35.
Julianne Dickson, a former City Council president and die-hard Democrat, isn't sure what she'll do in November if Obama is the party's nominee instead of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Dickson, 66, coached women's field hockey and recalls begging for funds before the passage of Title IX, the 1972 federal law that gave women equal access to school athletics. Today, "I owe my job to a sex discrimination suit," says Dickson, an insurance agent hired after her company settled a case with female employees who said they were losing promotions to less experienced men.

The idea that Obama might stop Clinton from becoming the nation's first female major-party presidential nominee has Dickson thinking that "it's happening again. I know that's why it has become so personal to me."

Hall and Dickson represent the promise and the pitfalls looming for Democrats as they prepare to vote Tuesday in a state that encapsulates many of the political challenges the candidates must overcome in November against Republican John McCain.  

Supporters of local American Idol contestant Brooke White gathered at Molly Brannigans pub and restaurant in Mesa for a viewing party Tuesday night.

While Brooke White, of Mesa, sang Hero by Mariah Carey during the top-seven week of American Idol, friends and family sat patiently waiting for the reviews from the judges.

"I was really digging it until the bridge," American Idol Judge Randy Jackson said. "I could see you lose confidence, but it was still very good." 

Eddy Torriente, one of White's friends, thought that it was very risky for her to sing that song and play the piano, but thought she did a fantastic job.

The results show will air Wednesday at 8 p.m. on Fox. White's family, also at the viewing party, couldn't talk about the performance.

If White wins Idol it will be the second year in a row that an Arizona native has won. Jordan Sparks, of Glendale, was last season's winner.

Heather Harris Torriento, who knows White, said she believes Brooke has what it takes to go all the way.

"She is genuine, kind, responsible, and funny," Heather said. "She would make a great 'American Idol' and role model."

   I am not too sure about the West but in Eastern some of the countries are still extremely conservative that if a woman or a single woman is allowed to work in an organization with lots of convincing done on her parents if suppose there is a transport strike some day she has to take a day off from the office the reason being that she is not allowed to take a lift from her colleague who is a male obviously and who lives nearby her house also. It is because of this set back young women/wives are at one point made to leave their jobs.