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Charles Perrault, author of Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella was born 388 years ago, and has been commemorated with a Google Doodle. Perrault was born in Paris in 1628, and was a lawyer before turning his hand to the written word. While the Brothers Grimm are widely credited with creating the fairy tale as we know it, Perrault actually wrote stories called Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, La Belle au bois dormant and Cendrillon a full 200 years before. In 1695, aged 67, he wrote Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals, a series of moral tales...

The Google Doodle today is about a Frenchman who apparently preceeded Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm Brothers in the Fairy Tale genre. "Charles Perrault [(1628-1703)], author of Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella was born 388 years ago, and has been commemorated with a Google Doodle." - Rhiannon Williams, "Who was Charles Perrault? Why the fairy tales you know may not be as they seem" Google's Doodle today is not linking to their own servers, or WikiMedia Foundation, but directly to the reactionary, patriarchal (though distinctly not "homophobic") servers of Telegraph.Co.UK. Here is the Doodle. Here is...

Hilarious dashcam video from Taylor, TX. :^)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A Chicago artist accused of stowing away on a plane out of St. Louis to attend a music festival in Texas faces a federal charge. 33-year-old Catherine "Cat" Chow was on the standby list for an American Airlines flight from St. Louis to Austin. When she found out the flight was full, Chow snuck onto the plane and hid in the bathroom. A flight attendant finally discovered that the woman didn't have a ticket, and Chow was arrested in Austin. She was trying to get to the city's annual South by Southwest Festival.

7 minutes ago To: National Desk, Political Reporter Contact: Phil Singer of the Kerry-Edwards Campaign, 202-464-2800 WASHINGTON, July 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) released the following statement today on Samuel R. Berger: "Sandy Berger is my friend, and he has tirelessly served this nation with honor and distinction. I respect his decision to step aside as an adviser to the campaign until this matter is resolved objectively and fairly." Paid for by John Kerry for President, Inc.