Free Republic

SNIPOscar-winning doc filmmaker Barbara Kopple ("Harlan County USA," "American Dream") teamed up with collaborator Cecilia Peck to co-direct a behind the scenes look at the best-selling female group of all time, "The Dixie Chicks." The film, "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing" was initially envisioned as a much more modest project, according to the band's Natalie Maines who spoke at a press conference this week at the Toronto International Film Festival. "We originally thought of having a filmmaker [to capture footage] for ourselves or as a supplement to some concert DVD release," said Maines. But Maines' now famous off-handed comment...

Excerpt - Martin Taylor, a key adviser to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, has left the software maker. Taylor, a 13-year company veteran who led Microsoft's "Get the Facts" anti-Linux crusade for several years, was named in March as a corporate vice president overseeing the marketing push for Windows Live services. ~ snip ~ "We've made the difficult decision to part ways with Martin, but we don't comment on personnel matters," Microsoft said in a statement. "We appreciate Martin's contributions at Microsoft over the past 13 years." ~ snip ~

GET OUT OF GOLD! Head for the exits!Commentary: Gold has likely topped By Tim W. Wood, Cycles News & Views Last Update: 1:19 PM ET Dec. 9, 2004 GULF SHORES, Ala. (Cycles) -- It's truly amazing to watch the sentiment pendulum as it swings from one extreme to the other. At the 2001 bottom, everyone everywhere was totally disgusted with gold. When I suggested buying gold I was met with rejection, "Gold is dead" to quote my critics. Here we are some four years later, gold topped $458 last week - a three year high. On Wednesday, gold fell more...