Million dollar baby 3

Frankie Dunn: Yeah, I know, Hogan. Your guy's the champ, so we don't split fifties. But if I don't see 40%... Look, you call me back when it's 60-40, or don't call me back at all. Hey, Willie.
Willie: Hey, Frankie.
Frankie Dunn: Is something wrong?
Willie: I’m sorry to come by your house like this. I-I know you don't like people dropping in.
Frankie Dunn: Oh, you're not people, Willie. You're welcome anytime. Come on in.
Willie: I want to thank you for getting Gracie's car back.
Frankie Dunn: Oh, well, you don't have to thank me. Paying an extra thousand dollars for your own car ain't exactly a favor.
Willie: Gracie broke out and cried when she saw it.
Frankie Dunn: Really?
Willie: I also needed to talk with you about business.
Frankie Dunn: Oh, well, I just got off the phone with Hogan. We're all set for September. Everything but the split.
Willie: I gotta leave you, Frankie.
Frankie Dunn: What? Willie, the... the title is just two fights away.
Willie: It ain't that. It’s... it’s like you said, I got one shot. If I win, I gotta make as much as I can while I can. I need somebody in the action, who can make things happen. And I gotta make the change before the fight. Only way this guy say he'd take me is if he took me to the title.
Frankie Dunn: So, I get you to the title fight, and this guy takes you there?
Willie: Only way he'd do it. I’m sorry, Frankie. I know how long you've been waiting on a title. I wish it could've been with me.
Frankie Dunn: Mickey Mack's a businessman. He can't teach you nothing.
Willie: You already taught me everything I need to know.
Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Voice-over): There's some things people just don't want to hear.

Million dollar baby 2

Priest: Bye.
Woman: Goodbye.
Frankie Dunn: Hey, Father, that was a great sermon. Made me weep.
Priest: What's confusing you this week?
Frankie Dunn: Oh, it's the same old one God, three God thing.
Priest: Frankie, most people figure out by kindergarten it's about faith.
Frankie Dunn: Is it sort of like Snap, Crackle and Pop all rolled up in one big box?
Priest: You're standing outside my church comparing God to Rice Krispies? You only come to Mass every day to wind me up. It’s not going to happen this morning.
Frankie Dunn: Well, I’m confused.
Priest: No, you aren't.
Frankie Dunn: Yes, I am.
Priest: Then here's your answer: There's one God. Anything else? Cos I’m busy.
Frankie Dunn: What about the Holy Ghost?
Priest: An expression of God's love.
Frankie Dunn: And Jesus?
Priest: Son of God. Don't play stupid.
Frankie Dunn: Well, what is he, then? Does that make him a demigod?
Priest: There are no demigods, you fuckin' pagan! Did you write to your daughter?
Frankie Dunn: Absolutely.
Priest: Now you’re lying to a priest. You know what? Take a day off. Don't come to Mass tomorrow.
Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Voice-over): Some people'd say the most important thing a fighter can have is heart. Frankie'd say ''Show me a fighter with nothing but a heart and I’ll show you a man waiting for a beating.'' Think I only ever met one fighter who was all heart.
Danger Barch: My name's Dangerous Dillard Fightin' Flippo Bam-Bam Barch out of Broward County, Texas!
Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Voice-over): Danger showed up a couple of years back. He'd come visiting L.A. with Ervel, his mama's new boyfriend. Apparently, Ervel got lost and ended up back in Texas. Danger looked for him for about a week 'fore he introduced himself.

Million dollar baby1

Crowd: You got him! You got him!
Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Voice-over): Only ever met one man I wouldn't want to fight.
Man: I can't stop that.
Frankie Dunn: Here. Get out of here, you useless tit.
Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Voice-over): When met him, he was already the best cutman in the business.
Big Willie Little: Can you stop it?
Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Voice-over): Started training and managing in the '60s, but he never lost his gift.
Frankie Dunn: No.
Man: Let me have a look at him.
Frankie Dunn: He's fine. He's fine.
Man: Well, he ain't if you don't stop this bleeding.I’ll give you one more round.
Referee: Seconds out. Let's go.
Big Willie Little: What do we do? Tell me what to do.
Frankie Dunn: Let him hit you.
Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Voice-over): Sometimes, there’s just nothing you can do. Cut's too wide too close to the bone... Maybe you got a severed vein... or you just can't get the coagulant deep enough.
Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Voice-over): There are all kinds of combinations you come up against down in the different layers of meat, and Frankie knew how to work every one. People love violence. They slow down at a car wreck to check for bodies. Same people claim to love boxing. They got no idea what it is. Boxing is about respect - getting it for yourself and taking it away from the other guy.
Frankie Dunn: I’ll warm up the car.
Maggie Fitzgerald: Mr Dunn?
Frankie Dunn: Hmm. I owe you money?
Maggie Fitzgerald: No, sir.
Frankie Dunn: I know your mama?
Maggie Fitzgerald: Don't rightly know, sir.
Frankie Dunn: Then what is it you want?
Maggie Fitzgerald: I was on the undercard. I won my fight, too. Maggie Fitzgerald.
Frankie Dunn: Well, Maggie Fitzgerald, what's up?
Maggie Fitzgerald: Did you happen to see it?
Frankie Dunn: Nope.
Maggie Fitzgerald: I did pretty good. Thought you might be interested in training me.
Frankie Dunn: I don't train girls.
Maggie Fitzgerald: Maybe you should. People see me fight say I’m pretty tough.
Frankie Dunn: Girlie, tough ain't enough.
Hogan: It’s a mistake.
Big Willie Little: Car should be able to back up, Frankie.
Frankie Dunn: Just push, will you?
Big Willie Little: What did Hogan want?
Frankie Dunn: Offered us a title shot.
Big Willie Little: 'Bout time.
Frankie Dunn: I turned him down flat. Two or three more fights, you'll be ready.
Big Willie Little: Been two or three more fights for a long time now, Frankie.
Frankie Dunn: Look, Willie, you get one shot at the title. You lose it, it may not come around again. Now, two or three more fights, and we'll be ready.
Big Willie Little: Whatever you say, Frankie.
Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Voice-over): Frankie liked to say that boxing is an unnatural act, that everything in boxing is backwards. Sometimes best way to deliver a punch is step back.

Fast food nation 1

Jack: Okay, okay. There's no shortage of future slogans. Phil, what have you got?
Phil: Well, um, same store sales are up 8.4% this quarter which is just... amazing. And the increase extends across every demographic. It's "tweens," heavy users, minivan dads, even seniors. So, clearly, the Big One is not only a big hit, it is quickly becoming the flagship of our brand.
Dave: Which we'll be building on, both in the upcoming second half of our campaign and in merchandising.
Jack: Terrific. Don, what about those Little Big Ones?
Don: Well, uh, last week, you know, we did a pretty extensive focus group with some of the kids from Martin Luther King Elementary.
Jack: Yeah?
Don: And it went great. Tested 91% in the top three boxes. They loved 'em.
Jack: What is it now, eight to a bag?
Don: No, no, no. You're thinking about theItty Bittys.
Jack: Oh.
Don: No, no. We figure three Little Big Ones for each kid's meal is gonna work out about right. But we wanna do a little more testing on that as well.
Jack: How about Disney?
Don: No word yet.
Dave: Also, the PBS deal doesn't seem to be happening. Uh, apparently Burger King and McDonald's have the Teletubbies alllocked up.
Jack: Fuck 'em.
Don: That's wonderful.
Man: Yeah? You like that? That's the Barbecue Big One.
Don: Wow. Tastes like it's right off the grill.
Man: You don't think it needs… like liquid smoke or any other kind of flavorings?
Don: No. No, no, no. I think it's perfect. Let's test that.
Man: Okay. Try this one.
Don: I don't know.
Man: Yeah. These Caribbean seasonings are kind of tricky.
Don: We're calling 'em Calypso Chicken Tenders. Yeah. I think people are gonna have an expectation for, uh maybe a touch of lime?
Man: Oh, lime? Lime's easy. I just held back on the terpinoline on this to keep the flavorings subtle. But I can always go back and add more.
Don: Yeah. Why don't you try that?
Man: I'll keep working on it.

Fast food nation

Pete: Hey, Sis. Sis-Whoa, whoa. Hey, hey. So, what would you say? Is Cody a better town today or back when we were kids?
Amber’s mother: I know what you would say.
Pete: What?
Amber’s mother: Your uncle hates everything, Amber. You know, I actually think it's better now. There's more stuff to do.
Pete: Oh, yeah. There's more to do. You got the Wal-Mart, the Kmart and the Target, right? You got Chuck E. Cheese. You got Taco Bell. You got Arby's. You got Mickey’s. You got Denny's. You've got, uh, Chili's. You got Applebee's. You got Wendy's. You got Hardee's, right? You got the- the K.F.C., the IHOP. Do they still have that Der Wienerschnitzel?
Amber: Oh, yeah.
Pete: Oh, thank God it's still hanging in there. You know, I don't know about you guys, but I could just piss away a whole Sunday afternoon at the Sunglass Hut.
Amber: Oh, have you ever been to the Sunglass Hut?
Pete: No, I never have. I'm not trying to come off like some Polly Perfect here. Right. I'm going to make some cabinets for some rich New York investment banker fuck who probably spends two weeks a year at his Montana ranch, so don't listen to me.
Amber’s mother: No, I'm not.
Pete: I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to your daughter. You know, I'm probably just going through some full-of-shit, early middle-age period.
Amber: I don't think you're full of shit.
Pete: Thank you. You see, she's so nice. What happened to you?
Amber’s mother: No, no, no, sweetheart, don't contradict your mother. He is full of shit. I don't waste a lot of time thinking about this stuff. Democrats, Republicans--they're all crooks.
Pete: This is why revolutions are meant for the young. If you don't do it now, you're never gonna. Uniform- uniformity. Conform- conformity. Monogamy- monotony.
Amber: No wonder you're not still married.
Amber’s mother: Stupid- stupidity.
Pete: Yeah, look- hey, the facts are not always friendly.
Amber’s mother: Listen to who's giving the lecture here, Amber. Your uncle did not finish college.
Pete: Jesus! Mm-hmm. Oh!
Amber’s mother: Okay? He’d lived in a camper for 18 months.
Pete: An air stream!
Amber’s mother: This is not a role model. Remind me to deprogram you after he leaves.
Amber: Hey, Mom said you got kicked out of college.
Pete: Oh, thanks, Mom.
Amber’s mother: Yeah, your mug shots are in all the papers.
Pete: Yeah, with eight others. I was at Colorado University. Right. We were the C.U. Nine.
Amber’s mother: Yeah, that notorious band of Midwestern, white freedom fighters.
Pete: No, no, no. We took over the chancellor's office. We were protesting the college's investment in South Africa.
Amber: So what happened?
Pete: All right, well, so, after about four hours, they come bursting through this barricade-
Amber’s mother: Okay, that was two chalkboards.
Pete: It's not two chalkboards. We had a bunch of ropes with some chair. Look, they practically beat the shit out of all of us. They treated us like a band of terrorists.
Amber’s mother: You got your little ass kicked out of college - which he never finished.
Pete: Big deal.
Amber’s mother: It cost our dad $2,000 in legal fees.
Pete: Which I eventually paid him back. Anyway, meanwhile-cut to-About a year later, the college divests all its holdings in South Africa and a little while after that, Nelson Mandela is a free man.
Amber’s mother: All because of the "C.U. Nine."
Pete: No, nobody said that. Nobody even thought that, all right. The point is... that, you know, if enough people start thinking about something and trying to actually do something, you can change things for the better.
Amber: I believe that.
Amber’s mother: Well, I hope they can change for the better.
Pete: Don't just hope. You can't sit back and hope. You have to do something. In a town like this, hope will kill you. It's your move.

From the earth to the moon

Alan Bean: Maybe we weren't dignified enough to be heroes. It wouldn't matter. 'Cause we were the second mission to land on the moon. History's ultimate anticlimax. But somehow, I fit right in. in fact, flying with Pete and Dick was the sweetest thing about the mission for me. We were a true team. At one point, I even kind of saved the day. I didn't know what to expect. I was a complete rookie, remember. Sure we’d done countless simulated launches so I did the same things I did during all of those.
Alan Bean: Roger, STC. Main bus tie bat B/C switch, on, up.
Alan Bean: I kept busy checking the console, making sure my end of our command module, Yankee Clipper, was ready to go.
Pete Conrad: Looks like this launch is gonna be a wet one.
Richard Gordon: No big deal for an all-Navy crew. We can handle it.
Alan Bean: The rain was considered a bother, but nothing to worry about.
Mission control: Apollo 12, you are go for launch. Go for launch.
Pete Conrad: Roger. SDC Go for launch.
Alan Bean: Me and my best buddies were ready for the adventure of a lifetime.
Pete Conrad: Al Bean, you are going to the moon.
Alan Bean: Y'all can come along if you like.
Mission control: 13, 12, 11, ten, nine--We have ignition sequence start. The engines are on. Four, three, two, one, zero.
Alan Bean: The first few moments after liftoff, you're vibrating pretty good.
Pete Conrad: The clock is running.
Alan Bean: Then you really start to move.
Mission control: Clear the tower.
Pete Conrad: Roger. Clear the tower. I got a pitch-and-roll program, and this baby is really going. Roll complete.
Mission control: Mark one bravo.
Pete Conrad: Got you on that.
Alan Bean: This thing moves, doesn't it?
Pete Conrad: Baby!
Alan Bean: We had just over half a minute of trouble-free launch and then all hell busted loose.
Pete Conrad: What the hell was that? I just lost a whole bunch of stuff.
Richard Gordon: We just had a whole bunch of buses drop out. What have we got here? A/C bus 1 light, all the fuel cells.
Pete Conrad: Okay, Houston, now, we just lost the platform, gang. I don't know what happened. We had everything drop out. I got three fuel cell lights, an A/C bus light, a fuel cell disconnect, A/C bus overload 1 and 2, main bus A and B out. We had some big glitch here.
Alan Bean: I got A/C.
Pete Conrad: Got A/C? Yes maybe it's the indicator. What's on the main bus?
Alan Bean: 24 volts. That's low.
Pete Conrad: We've got a short of some kind, but I can't believe that's accurate.
Mission control: Flight, EECOM.
Gerry Griffin: Go, EECOM.
John Aaron: I think it's a fuel cell bus failure. They've been thrown off-line somehow. That must be why we're getting garbage here. Can they try SCE to aux?
Alan Bean: Gerry Griffin had never heard that command before. I’m pretty sure most of the people in Mission Control hadn't.
Gerry Griffin: Tell them.
Mission control: Apollo 12, Houston. Try SCE to auxiliary. Over.
Pete Conrad: FCE to auxiliary? What the hell is that?
Alan Bean: I'm not sure even Pete knew what that was, but one person did.
Alan Bean: I know what that is. SCE to aux.
Mission control: We're getting good telemetry from you guys again. Try to reset your fuel cells.
Alan Bean: Reset fuel cells.
Richard Gordon: Wait for staging.
Pete Conrad: Wait for staging. Yes. Hang on. Okay, Houston. GDC is good. We got a good S-2, gang.
Mission control: We copy that, Pete. You're looking good.
Alan Bean: Poor Gerry Griffin. We were his first mission as flight director and he had dealt along with more malfunctions than anybody had ever seen.
Pete Conrad: Ok, now we'll straighten out our problems here.
Richard Gordon: I don't know what happened. I'm not sure we didn't get hit by lightning.
Alan Bean: That's exactly what had happened. Before even our first stage had finished doing its job, observers back on the ground later reported that not just one but two bolts of lightning rode our exhaust contrail all the way back down to the pad and hit the tower.

Hotel Rwanda Movie is Retelling of Human

By Brian Purchia Ten years ago in the small African nation of Rwanda, Hutu extremists slaughtered almost a million of their Tutsi neighbors as well as any moderate Hutus. One man, Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager, was able to save more than a thousand refugees from certain death. His story has become a movie, "Hotel Rwanda." It was recently screened at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, and VOA's Brian Purchia was there. Blood flowed in Rwanda for a hundred days in 1994. When it was over almost a million people were dead. As Rwandans butchered and shot each other the world closed its eyes. Joaquin Phoenix plays a photojournalist covering the massacre. JOAQUIN PHOENIX - in movie"I think if people see this footage they'll say, 'Oh my God, that's horrible,' and go on eating their dinners." 'Hotel Rwanda' tells the true story of Paul Rusesabagina and how, through courage and cunning, he was able to save more than 1200 refugees from Hutu death squads. DON CHEADLE - in movie"There will be no rescue, no intervention force. We can only save ourselves." Paul, a hotel manager in the nation's capital, Kigali, opened his luxury hotel to Rwandans trying to escape the genocide. Paul is played by Don Cheadle. DON CHEADLE, ACTOR"It was an amazing privilege, I think, to be able to tell Paul's story." The real-life hero was on hand for the screening. PAUL RUSESABAGINA"People were not informed, people were not aware of what was happening. The average American was not informed, some few politicians and few journalists were only aware, but the average American was not." JOAQUIN PHOENIX - in movie"Excuse me honey, can I ask you a personal question? Are you a Hutu or a Tutsi?" ACTRESS"I am Tutsi." JOAQUIN PHOENIX"And your friend, Tutsi?" ACTRESS"No, I am Hutu." JOAQUIN PHOENIX"They could be twins." NARRATORSofia Okonedo plays Paul's wife, Tatiana. She hopes the movie will raise awareness about other conflicts. SOPHIE OKONEDO, ACTRESS"If somehow it resonates with an audience and they felt slightly different or take a little bit more interest in reading about it, Sudan or Ivory Coast or the Congo, then our job is done." DON CHEADLE, ACTOR"I also hope in just a very basic way that the film entertains and that people are sort of swept up in the telling of the story, because the story it really is a thriller with a real love story at its core." The movie left quite an impression on the audience at the premier. ED RACKLEY, MOVIEGOER"It shows the power of individuals to respond to an overwhelming crisis." 'Hotel Rwanda' has already won two prestigious awards: the People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival and the American Film Institute's Audience Award. The movie opens nationwide in American theaters in mid-December.
Brian Purchia, VOA news, at U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington.

War in Iraq: Whats the Cost to the Environment?

when Iraqi soldiers retreated from Kuwait during the first Gulf War in 1991, they set fire to 600 oil wells. Towering pillars of fire and columns of smoke vented from the wells for eight months, spreading toxic fumes in all directions. The Iraqi military also unleashed the largest oil slick ever over lowlands and farms. Twenty-five thousand birds died, fisheries were degraded, and acid rain poisoned trees.
Despite this widespread destruction, the Persian Gulf 1)rebounded faster than scientists had predicted, according to environmentalist Jonathan Lash, he is a president of the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank.
"People were afraid that the damage from the oil fields would be 2)permanent. And in fact in the decade that has ensued, the fish is putting much recovered. There is still some evidence of contamination and no one knows how long the toxins in the water column will remain, but because the water is relatively warm the natural process of cleanup went remarkably fast," he says. "The story with regard to Kuwaiti lands, and in particular agricultural lands, was not quite so good. There are still vast areas that are caked with hardened 3)residue of oil vapor and carbon that has made agriculture difficult. The Kuwaitis say it killed about 80 percent of their livestock."
Mr. Lash says the situation in Iraq could be radically different, especially if Saddam Hussein initiates what he calls "a scorched earth" policy.
JL: "If Saddam Hussein's government chooses to ignite their oil fields and there is some of evidence that is happening more scarce, the oil fields are much larger than the Kuwaiti oil fields. They are distributed much more widely through Iraq through the southern regions that the alliance forces entered first all the way up to the north and in much more populated areas. So, the potential scale of the consequences is very great. Iraqis also depend on surface water for drinking water and there is a high risk of contamination of water supplies in this conflict."
RS: "So, what I hear you saying is that oil becomes kind of a weapon itself because of the impact after these fields are ignited and what have you."
JL: "That is the risk. Not that it becomes a weapon, but it is intentionally used as a weapon. We are all used to thinking of environmental destruction as the unintended consequences of people's actions. This is a case where environmental destruction is an intended consequence to interfere with advancing armies or even worse, to interfere with recovery afterwards."
RS: "How, under life and death pressures of armed conflict, can an army minimize the environmental impact of war?"
JL: "There have certainly been changes since the first Gulf War in terms of backing away from some of the 4)munitions that appear to be most dangerous in the aftermath of the war. There certainly can be care taken not to destroy key infrastructure or water sources. Probably the most important step during the conflict is to be ready to act extremely quickly to respond to oil field fires or other measures of destruction, to have the equipment ready and if possible to use military force to prevent that kind of action."
RS: "What about when the war is over, what kind of plan [should be put in place] or should planning be going on while the war going on to protect the environment - the air, the water, the land that people depend on who live in the region."
JL: "It seems strange to be speculating while the fighting is underway, but in fact planning has been underway for months to think about what will happen after the war. At some point there will be some kind of peace, and then the key issue after security will be to help Iraqis rebuild their lives. At that point the state of their environment will become a very important issue, where they get clean water, how quickly they can restore their agriculture, and begin supporting themselves, how extensively their health has been affected by the construction of the war and any environmental destruction. At that point, it will be very important for the cleanup to go forward quickly, for people to get information about the cleanup, what's happening, what the risks are. For Iraqis to have the opportunity to participate in decisions that shape their environment, to make decisions about what the highest priorities are. It is interesting as the former Soviet Union was collapsing, one of the first areas in which public participation was allowed in [that] totalitarian society was with regard to the environmental destruction that was invisible throughout the former Soviet Union. And here, too, there is an opportunity for Iraqis to participate in very immediate decisions that directly affect them as the cleanup begins."
RS: "Thank you very much, thank you for speaking with us today."
JL: "Nice to talking with you. "
Jonathan Lash is a president of the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank in Washington.
The United Nations Environment Program announced last week that it has begun to study the environmental impact of the war in Iraq and plans to send a team into the country after the war to assess the situation and help mitigate any problems. The U.N. agency has done similar reports on environmental damage resulting from conflicts in Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republic of Macedonia, and the Palestinian Territories. It recently examined the health effects of the depleted uranium that was released by the Balkans civil war.

Three Popular Rock Groups

Nine Inch Nails has been making industrial rock music since the late nineteen eighties. Trent Reznor is the main force behind the band. He writes, performs and produces the band's material. He has criticized the music industry and the record company that used to represent him. Nine Inch Nails' latest album is available free of charge on the band's Web site. The Web site states that the album is a way to thank fans for their continued support. And the band hopes people will remix the songs to create new versions.

British couple's 22-year motel stop

A British couple have shacked up(1) in a budget(2) roadside motel for more than 20 years because they love never having to do the laundry or cooking, they said Tuesday.
David Davidson, 79, and his wife, Jean, 70, first tried out a Travelodge hotel while visiting a sick aunt in 1985 -- and were instantly hooked.
Their room -- near Grantham, east central England off the A1 trunk road(3) from London to Edinburgh -- overlooks a car park, but is also within sight of a slip road(4) that trucks rumble (5) down day and night, jazzing up(6) the view.
"We get great rates because we book well in advance and we even have our own personal housekeeper. All our bed linen(7) is laundered, too. It doesn't get much better than that, does it?" said former Royal Navy sailor David Davidson.
The couple have spent around 100,000 pounds renting rooms which cost them as little as 15 pounds a night.
The motel is renaming their room The Davidsons' Suite and mounting a plaque(8) in the reception to mark their 10-year anniversary.
The couple, who initially lived in a Travelodge in nearby Newark before moving in 1997, have kept their old flat in Sheffield, northern England, and return every fortnight(9) to collect the post.
The Davidsons exchange Christmas presents with the staff, dine out at a roadside eateries across the car park and watch the traffic go by.
"There is always something outside our window. Our room looks out to the car park and a busy slip road where lorries pass through the night," David Davidson said.
"We do have to be a bit choosy(10) about what we keep in our room as it can fill up easily."
His wife added: "We don't get hit with huge heating bills over the winter and its safer than a lot of places these days."
The couple do go for trips abroad -- but stay in a Travelodge.
"Some will think David and Jean Davidson bonkers(11) to have spent the last 22 years living in a hotel," said the Daily Express in its editorial.
But their room rates are "not more than many people's mortgage(12) payments, the housework is done for them and they do not pay utility bills. What's not to like?"

Injured Sharapova withdraws from Olympics

World number three Maria Sharapova pulled out of the Beijing Olympics on Thursday after an MRI scan on her right shoulder revealed two small tears.
"I'm currently packing up really quick to hop on the plane and head to New York for a second opinion but I wanted to let all of you know first that there's no chance of me competing in Beijing," Sharapova said on her website.
"The timing is so unfortunate and this makes me much sadder than anything," she added on www.mariasharapova.com.
The Russian was examined by doctors after withdrawing from the Montreal Cup late on Wednesday evening with a sore shoulder following a 7-5 5-7 6-2 win over Poland's Marta Domachowska.
They advised Sharapova she would need a lot of time away from the game to let the injury to heal, which puts the 2006 US Open champion's chances of playing in this year's final grand slam, starting on August 25 in New York, in doubt.
"After yesterday's match I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder," said Sharapova.
"After taking a few different exams and MRIs this morning, the doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder.
"There are so many mixed feelings because last night they were almost positive there was something wrong with my nerve, which could have ultimately been much more serious.
"But after the tests this morning, for the first time in a while, they were able to give me a different answer and a different problem.
"But on the other hand this is something that needs a lot of time to heal, which really hurts me to say that I have to miss the Olympics."
Playing her first match since a shock second-round defeat by compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva at Wimbledon in June, Sharapova twice received treatment on her shoulder during her three-hour battle with Domachowska in Montreal on Wednesday.

American History Series: Madison Declares War on Britain in 1812

Leaders in Washington did not know it, but the British -- two days earlier -- had ended their orders against neutral American trade.
ANNOUNCER:
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English.
James Madison
In the spring of eighteen twelve, the United States and Britain were moving closer to war. Congress had approved a ninety-day embargo to stop American ships from leaving home. And American ships in foreign ports and at sea were ordered to return to the United States. President James Madison requested the embargo to prevent the capture of these ships once a war started.
Today, Maurice Joyce and Stuart Spencer begin the story of the War of Eighteen Twelve.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
The president was sure there would be war. He had seen the instructions from London to British minister Augustus Foster. The British foreign minister warned Foster to say nothing about any compromise. He wanted the United States to see how firmly Britain would continue its orders against neutral trade with the enemies of Britain.
VOICE TWO:
President Madison had hoped for some sign of compromise. But there was none. Congress continued to prepare the nation for war. Lawmakers voted to increase the size of the army and to borrow money to pay for things the larger army would need.
But not all members of Congress wanted war with Britain. Many Federalists, especially, opposed it. Some of them tried to end the embargo only a month after it began.
Congressman Hermanus Bleecker showed the House a list of hundreds of names from his area of New York. He said all these people opposed the embargo and the idea of war with Britain. "It is impossible," he said, "that we can go to war when the embargo ends, sixty days from now. Where are our armies? Our navy? Have we the money to fight a war? Why, it would be treason to go to war this soon, so poorly prepared."
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Albert Gallatin
Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin was having a difficult time finding money to borrow. He could get almost no money at all from Federalist New England banks. Congress had approved borrowing eleven million dollars. But Gallatin found the banks would lend only six million to the United States government.
The Federalists charged that Gallatin's difficulties showed the people did not want war, especially the people of New England. If the people of the West and the South wanted to fight, then let them pay for the war.
Republican John Randolph also spoke against the war. "How could the administration speak of war when it did not even have the courage to order taxes to raise money? Are we to go to war without money, without men, without a navy? The people will not believe it."
John C. Calhoun answered Randolph. "So far from being unprepared, sir, I believe that four weeks from the time war is declared, we will have captured much of British Canada.”
VOICE TWO:
Sure that Britain would not change its hostile policies, President Madison sent a secret message to Congress on June first, proposing that war be declared. Madison listed the reasons for war:
British warships had violated the American flag at sea. The British navy had seized and carried off persons protected by this flag. British warships also violated United States waters, interfering with American ships as they entered and left port. Another reason, he said, was Britain's orders against trade with France or allies of France. International law, he said, gave Britain no right to make such orders.
Madison also spoke of the hostile Indians of the northwest territory, and seemed to charge British Canada with helping the Indians.
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VOICE ONE:
The Battle of Queenston Heights was a British victory during the War of 1812
The president's message was sent to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House for discussion. The committee's report was made two days later by chairman John C. Calhoun. He proposed that the House declare war.
The House, meeting in secret, heard the report. Federalist Josiah Quincy proposed that the debate should be made public. This proposal was defeated. The final vote on declaring war was seventy-nine for and forty-nine against. In the Senate, the vote was even closer: nineteen for and thirteen against.
President Madison signed the bill on June eighteenth. The War of 1812 had begun.
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VOICE TWO:
The leaders in Washington did not know it, but Britain -- two days earlier -- had ended its orders against neutral American trade. The orders might have been withdrawn earlier, except for a number of events.
British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval, under great political pressure, had decided to end the British orders on neutral trade. Businessmen and traders were loudly protesting that the orders were destroying England's economy. On May eleventh, before Perceval could act, he was shot to death. Not until June eighth was agreement reached on a new prime minister, Lord Liverpool.
Eight days later, his government announced that the orders were ended immediately. This was only two days before war was to be declared in Washington. And, with ships the only method of communication, the British action was not learned of in time.
VOICE ONE:
If the United States had had a minister in London during the spring of eighteen twelve, he would have been able to report progress toward ending the orders. But the American minister, William Pinkney, had returned home a year earlier.
On the day that war was declared, the United States was far from ready to fight. There were only about eight thousand American soldiers. And most of them were serving in the West. The United States had only a few warships and gunboats with which to face the British navy -- the most powerful naval force in the world.
Worst of all was the division among the people of the United States about the war. It was strongly opposed in the Northeast. Church bells were rung and flags lowered in New England when the declaration of war was announced. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut refused to let their state soldiers follow the orders of the national government.
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VOICE TWO:
The United States could not have lasted long against the military power of Britain had it not been for the war in Europe. Most of Britain's forces were battling the soldiers of Napoleon Bonaparte. Britain could send only small forces to fight the Americans.
The United States tried to increase the size of its army. But the United States had not fought a war, or needed an army, for a long time.
The officers who led troops in the Revolutionary War were old men, and tired. The young men had never fought and knew little about the ways of war. Two top generals were named by President Madison: sixty-two-year-old Henry Dearborn, and Thomas Pinckney, sixty-three. Most of the other generals were almost as old.
There also was the problem of getting enough men to serve as soldiers. Congress had approved an increase of twenty-five thousand men. Only five thousand agreed to serve. Members of Congress from the western states had spoken proudly of how their people would rush to fight the British. This did not happen. The first request to Kentucky for soldiers produced only four hundred men.
VOICE ONE:
The United States decided the first attacks should be made against Canada. There were only about twenty-five hundred British soldiers guarding the border between the United States and Canada. Four campaigns were planned. The first of these was led by an old Revolutionary War soldier, General William Hull.
General Hull and his two thousand men were ordered to march from southern Ohio to the city of Detroit, in the Michigan territory. They had completed the three hundred kilometer march before war was declared. Hull was given immediate orders to invade Canada.
The old general crossed the border and attacked the British at Malden. But the British general there was prepared, and the attack failed. Hull retreated back to Detroit. He was chased by a smaller force of British soldiers and Indians.
Although Hull had the stronger force and plenty of supplies, he surrendered Detroit to the British. After the war, Hull was tried by a military court on charges of cowardice. The court found him guilty and ordered him shot. The president, because of Hull's service during the Revolutionary War, permitted the old soldier to live.
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ANNOUNCER:
Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Maurice Joyce and Stuart Spencer. Join us each week for THE MAKING OF A NATION – an American history series in VOA Special English.__
This is program #45 of THE MAKING OF A NATION

Million dollar baby

Frankie Dunn: Yeah, I know, Hogan. Your guy's the champ, so we don't split fifties. But if I don't see 40%... Look, you call me back when it's 60-40, or don't call me back at all. Hey, Willie.
Willie: Hey, Frankie.
Frankie Dunn: Is something wrong?
Willie: I’m sorry to come by your house like this. I-I know you don't like people dropping in.
Frankie Dunn: Oh, you're not people, Willie. You're welcome anytime. Come on in.
Willie: I want to thank you for getting Gracie's car back.
Frankie Dunn: Oh, well, you don't have to thank me. Paying an extra thousand dollars for your own car ain't exactly a favor.
Willie: Gracie broke out and cried when she saw it.
Frankie Dunn: Really?
Willie: I also needed to talk with you about business.
Frankie Dunn: Oh, well, I just got off the phone with Hogan. We're all set for September. Everything but the split.
Willie: I gotta leave you, Frankie.
Frankie Dunn: What? Willie, the... the title is just two fights away.
Willie: It ain't that. It’s... it’s like you said, I got one shot. If I win, I gotta make as much as I can while I can. I need somebody in the action, who can make things happen. And I gotta make the change before the fight. Only way this guy say he'd take me is if he took me to the title.
Frankie Dunn: So, I get you to the title fight, and this guy takes you there?
Willie: Only way he'd do it. I’m sorry, Frankie. I know how long you've been waiting on a title. I wish it could've been with me.
Frankie Dunn: Mickey Mack's a businessman. He can't teach you nothing.
Willie: You already taught me everything I need to know.
Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Voice-over): There's some things people just don't want to hear.