Singapore Zoo

Cangoo Caves - South Africa

Mt. Kilimanjaro

Palestinean loss of land 1946-2000

Inside a typical Oktoberfest tent [pic]

Shutter

Here’s an idea. Take a great product with one glaringly flawed feature, put together an application that exploits the awfulness of that feature in a few brilliantly simple ways, and then sell it for a few bucks.

Something like a month ago, a $5 app called CameraBag hit the iPhone app store. I read the description, took the risk and bought it. I turns out it’s no more complicated than a few pre-built filters that will take a typically crappy photo with the iPhone’s camera (or let you choose one from your library) and make it look as if it were taken from one of a variety of classic low-quality cameras. You’ve got your Lomo, Holga, 1970’s faded and yellowing print, high-contrast B&W, infrared, and a few more (though you’ll find the first two as “Lolo” and “Helga” in the menu, for trademarks reasons naturally).

It’s basic, it’s slow (the filters take a while to render), the already-low iPhone image quality doesn’t hold up at large sizes after the filter, and it’s nothing I couldn’t do on my own in Photoshop. But I love it for being so simple, and doing such a good job at making lemonade out of the iPhone’s lemon. It turns one of the phone’s most obvious flaws into a desirable feature. Almost.

I put CameraBag to the test on my way out for lunch in Vancouver’s Chinatown last week. Here are some selected photos from the full set on Flickr.

Hassan Nasrallah: The the Head of Hezbollah

While Israeli forces continued to strike in Gaza, the man leading Hezbollah continued to back Hamas in Lebanon. Could this guy decide the fate of peace in the Middle East? Revisit this profile from Esquire's 75th anniversary issue to find out.

Most terrorist movements go one of two ways: They either fall apart after the top leaders are captured or killed, or they are successfully drawn into the political process and ultimately assimilated by the ruling political forces. Hezbollah's rise within Lebanon increasingly looks like the latter, except it is Lebanon's splintered political system that is being assimilated into Hezbollah's radical Islamic agenda rather than the other way around. Now in control of close to a dozen ministries and capable of forcing the installation of its preferred president (a feat Hezbollah pulled off this summer), this Shiite militia--backed extensively by Iran--has become Lebanon's de facto ruling party.

Forty-eight-year-old Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's charismatic secretary-general since 1992, is part Yasir Arafat (he earned his stripes as a guerrilla commander fighting Israel's occupation in the 1980s) and part Ayatollah Khomeini (then spent years abroad burnishing his meager religious street cred and honing his skill for mob-igniting fiery sermons). And, oh, part Huey Long, because he has proved that he can deliver services to a desperate people that the government couldn't or wouldn't. Israel long ago decided that it can't live with him (attempting to assassinate him just like his predecessor) but eventually may come to the conclusion--along with Washington--that it can't live without him.

Nasrallah, who currently holds no public office, wants to rule Lebanon openly, but with Shiites constituting roughly a third of the population, his only route to Supreme Leadership replicates Iran's long-standing strategy of emphasizing a staunchly anti--Israeli/U. S. front. In this quest, Nasrallah has succeeded brilliantly, presiding over both Israel's embarrassing withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 and its failed military effort to reduce Hezbollah's southern state-within-a-state in the summer of 2006, yielding a 34-day war that shell-shocked Beirut's fragile ruling coalition, not to mention the world.

With Israel staring at two unthinkable long-term scenarios (South African--style apartheid rule over a soon-to-be majority Muslim population in Palestine and a nuclear Iran), the diplomatic race may soon be on to capture Nasrallah's support for the mythical two-state solution in exchange for Western acceptance of Hezbollah's achievement of clear rule in Lebanon. In effect, banking on the notion that Nasrallah is more a power-hungry nationalist than he is Tehran's ideological puppet.

The United States helped turbocharge the Middle East's ongoing Shiite revival by clumsily creating the first modern Arab Shiite-dominated state in post-Saddam Iraq. In a "one man, one vote" world, that means learning to live with the likes--and dislikes--of Hassan Nasrallah.

SOURCE

Brooke Eat effeminate little man! RAAARRGH!!!

Nipple Hair Mustache, WOW

Your fears erased here daily

The language we use in the Internet

Hair in the Space (Pic)

Facebook

In Jail for singing

A man has been jailed for breaching the peace by singing Spiderpig from The Simpsons Movie at police officers.

David Mullen was sentenced to three months for the incident and calling an officer "ginger" in a police van.

Mullen, 22, from Blairgowrie, claimed he was singing the ditty, performed by Homer in the cartoon, because it was the ringtone on his mobile phone.

He was given a further eight months in prison for assaulting a police officer and breaching a curfew while on bail.

'Appalling road'

Homer sings Spiderpig to the theme of Spiderman while walking a pig across the ceiling in The Simpsons Movie.

Mullen sang the song to officers on 25 July while sitting in the back of a police van after being involved in a fight in Blairgowrie, Perthshire.

Solicitor Paul Ralph, defending, said: "He started the song and that was the origin of the joke, but things went further. He felt he had not done anything to be apprehended for."

Mullen breached his curfew on 30 October and assaulted a police officer on 2 November.

Mr Ralph told Perth Sheriff Court that Mullen, of Harriet Row, had been abusing alcohol since the age of 12.

Sheriff Robert McCreadie said: "It is tragic that you have taken alcohol for almost half of your life. You have a dreadful record for a man of 22.

"It is now your decision if you want to continue down the tragic and appalling road you have chosen for yourself."

The secret of Demagogue (pic)

Political Trains

New York City at night HDR

Einstein and the Progress

"Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."

Albert Einstein

Bulgarian Big Brother´s fight video

This half arab guy won't shut up and keeps talking crap. every1 ask him to shut up. and he says im not talkin to u and continue to treathen the guy that is going to beat him in this video by saying "ill show u wat ill do wen i see u"

The arab hit him first b4 on other video. and then the bulgarian hit him back. and the arab got mad and started talkin how this gay guy in the house hits harder then him. and he says he gives him 500$ if he fites him rite now and wins. he says come and beat me like the ppl haha

WWF: Blood

Advertising Agency: LOWE GGK, Warsaw, Poland
Creative Directors: Kinga Grzelewska, Marcin Nowak
Art Directors: Giedymin Jabłoński, Maciek Trybek
Copywriter: Patryk Michon
Photographer: Igor Omulecki
Published: July 2008

A beard of bees!

Spinning Rainbow!

Ride your Motocross bike

'Lipstick on a pig': Attack on Palin or common line?

I would like you to read this news I read in CNN:

Sen. Barack Obama's reference to "lipstick on a pig" has Republicans demanding an apology and Democrats accusing Sen. John McCain of a "pathetic attempt" to play the gender card.

Barack Obama used the "lipstick" line at a campaign event in Lebanon, Virginia, on Tuesday.

McCain's campaign said Obama's remarks were offensive and a slap at Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin -- despite the fact that the Arizona senator himself used the phrase last year to describe a policy proposal of Hillary Clinton's.

Obama shot back Wednesday and accused the McCain campaign of engaging in "lies" and "swift boat politics."

"I don't care what they say about me. But I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies and phony outrage and swift boat politics," he said in Norfolk, Virginia. "Enough is enough." Watch Obama deliver his harsh words »

The phrase "swift boat" comes from the 2004 presidential election, when the group "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" launched an attack ad campaign against Democratic candidate John Kerry. Read more about what Obama said

Obama made his controversial "lipstick" remarks at a Virginia campaign stop late Tuesday afternoon. Watch what happens with politics and lipstick collide »

"John McCain says he's about change too, and so I guess his whole angle is, 'Watch out George Bush -- except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics -- we're really going to shake things up in Washington,'" he said.

Don't Miss

• Palin backed 'bridge to nowhere,' then opposed it
• Biden's comments on special needs kids called 'new low'
• Ticker: Is Palin influencing white women?

"That's not change. That's just calling something the same thing something different. You know you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. You know you can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, it's still going to stink after eight years. We've had enough of the same old thing." Watch how tensions are rising on the trail »

The crowd erupted in applause when Obama delivered the line.

The Illinois senator then praised both McCain's "compelling story" and Palin's "interesting story," and said his "hat goes off" to anyone who's looking after five kids -- "I've got two and they tire Michelle and me out. ...

"That's why John McCain's campaign manager [Rick Davis] said this campaign isn't going to be about issues, this campaign is going to be about personalities."

Within minutes, the McCain campaign announced a conference call focused on the remark, which they said was a deliberate reference to Palin's line: "You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick."

Palin used the line in the opening remarks of her convention speech, and she frequently uses it on the campaign trail.

In Iowa last October, McCain drew comparisons between Hillary Clinton's current health care plan and the one she championed in 1993: "I think they put some lipstick on the pig, but it's still a pig." He used roughly the same line in May, after effectively claiming the Republican nomination.

McCain spokesman Brian Rogers told CNN the campaign saw a "big difference" between the two references: "McCain was referring to a policy proposal. Obama was referring to [Alaska] Gov. Sarah Palin. It's obviously disrespectful and offensive. ...

"Who has been talking about lipstick lately? It was obvious. The crowd went crazy because of it."

It wasn't the first time Obama used the line. In a phone interview with The Washington Post last September, he used it in reference to the situation in Iraq.

"I think that both Gen. [David] Petraeus and Ambassador [Ryan] Crocker are capable people who have been given an impossible assignment," Obama told the Post. "George Bush has given a mission to Gen. Petraeus, and he has done his best to try to figure out how to put lipstick on a pig."

Other politicians have also used the phrase in recent years, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Rep. John Mica of Florida and Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, among others.

Torie Clarke, a former McCain adviser, even wrote a book called, "Lipstick on a Pig: Winning In the No-Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game."

Still, the McCain campaign says Obama's use was intentional, and they want an apology.

"Barack Obama's comments today are offensive and disgraceful. He owes Gov. Palin an apology," said Maria Comella, a McCain-Palin spokeswoman.

Obama's campaign said "enough is enough" and accused McCain of running a "dishonorable campaign."

"The McCain campaign's attack tonight is a pathetic attempt to play the gender card about the use of a common analogy -- the same analogy that Sen. McCain himself used about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care plan just last year," said Obama campaign senior adviser Anita Dunn. "This phony lecture on gender sensitivity is the height of cynicism and lays bare the increasingly dishonorable campaign John McCain has chosen to run."

McCain ally Mike Huckabee took Obama's side on the issue, saying he didn't think it was a swipe at Palin.

"It's an old expression, and I'm going to have to cut Obama some slack on that one. I do not think he was referring to Sarah Palin; he didn't reference her. If you take the two sound bites together, it may sound like it," he said on Fox's "Hannity and Colmes."

Steve Vai free Style

Mio's two-faced LEAP K1 gets unboxed

It's been quite awhile since Mio's LEAP K1 was introduced overseas, but now we're getting an up close and personal look thanks to one particular unboxer over at Mobile01. The two-faced mobile looks like a typical handset from the front, but upon flipping it over, you'll find another side to this critter -- one that fancies GPS navigation. We're not too sure how we feel about having to safeguard displays on both sides of the handset, but if we had access to plenty of screen protectors, we suppose we could get used to all that added functionality. Hit the read link for lots more pics.

[Via iTech News]

The Legacy George Bush Will Leave

(CBS) For as long as he's been asked about it, George Bush has publically professed to not care much about his legacy.

"I'm reading about George Washington, still," President Bush said in 2006. "My attitude is, if they're still analyzing number one, 43 ought not to worry about it."

And why would he want to, given the long list of targets he's presented to his critics, CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod reports.

The tragically weak response to Katrina, which will always overshadow the administration getting it right - like the last few days with Gustav.

No Child Left Behind, the president's education initiative that even some supporters concede is a failure.

An economy in shambles.

"He's in the bottom 10 to five presidents in the history of the United States," James Thurber, an American University historian, said.

But the president could take heart that none of those will be his defining issues.

"I think the assessment of President Bush begins not with Inauguration Day, but with 9/11, and then it goes to Iraq," said Ken Duberstein, former chief of staff for Ronald Reagan.

And there, even Democratic critics like Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institute, say the success of the surge in Iraq will help the President's legacy.

"He went to war in a deliberately cavalier way," O'Hanlon said. "But let's also be fair. Iraq now seems to be a quasi-functioning Democracy without weapons of mass destruction, without genocides against citizens or attacks against its neighbors. So to some extent, we gotta give our president his due."

Still, presidential legacies are by their very nature an exercises in comparison. If you want to understand the signature of this two-term Republican president, compare it to the last one.

"In 1988 with Reagan in the mid-50s in popularity, everybody was clamoring for a third term with Ronald Reagan. And now the only people who are talking about a third term for President Bush are the Democrats," said Duberstein.

It seems indisputable that George Bush will address the convention, greatly diminished from his previous appearances. If the first draft of history is written by reporters, the historians, like James Thurber, are about to get their turn.

"Well all presidents think that history will change perceptions of their activities," Thurber said. "I think history will be unkind to this man."

And it would seem they won't offer the president much comfort.

Could Paris Hilton Doc Become Hottest Ticket in Toronto?

Oh yes, you heard that right -- and I almost slapped myself when, during a Toronto Fest meeting earlier today, I unfortunately had to inform our team that coverage of Paris, Not France was a top priority. Congrats Ms. Hilton, you've successfully found a way to turn all the attention toward your documentary by making it look like you want nothing to do with it. Of course, that's not the case at all -- heck, it's not like the chick ever pulled something like this before (cough ... sex tape ... cough). But let's back up for a minute ...

... there's a Paris Hilton documentary playing Toronto? Yup, it's called Paris, Not France, and it marks the first feature for music video and commercial director Adria Petty (daughter of Tom). What's it about? Apparently, the flick follows Paris around for a year and provides us with one of those intimate looks into the life of blah blah .... and then she says "That's hot" about a gazillion times ... the end. So why is everyone talking about it?

Well, because Paris (and her "people") somehow managed to get the festival to pull all but one screening of the doc for reasons they're not willing to disclose at this time. So what's up? Is Paris really that upset with the way she's portrayed in the film that she doesn't want it shown? Or, is this whole "pull the screenings, threaten lawsuits" thing just a ploy to get people (like us) talking and wanting and needing? I'd say it's certainly suspicious, especially since we're talking Paris Hilton here, who, whether you like it or not, is pretty smart when it comes to marketing herself as a larger-than-life personality.

What do you think? And does all this hoopla make you want to see the film even more?

[via Risky Biz Blog]

HTC's Android-driven Dream revealed in glorious spy photos

Sure, we've seen some blurry videos and managed a few stolen glimpses when Andy Rubin demonstrated this beast, but now we've gotten our hands on a slew of pictures showing off a very real T-Mobile-branded Dream in all its Android-running glory. Not only does this confirm the design spied in those FCC docs as well as show off that nearly-done version of Android, but it seems to confirm the fact that this will be headed to T-Mobile, and sooner rather than later judging from the looks of the above device. Needless to say, our inner-geeks are completely geeking out right now. Hit the gallery below for a handful of other views of the phone. [Warning: read link is a forum, requires registration, and is in Chinese]

Via ENgadget

Things To Say During Sex

A flow chart illustrating the best, worst, and most awkward exclamations uttered in those intimate moments. Hehe, I said “flow.”

Virgin America and HBO Launch Entourage Route From JFK to LAS, Take Celebration to the Skies With Star-Studded In-Flight Screening

ADVISORY, Aug 28, 2008 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Virgin America and HBO take the hit series Entourage to the skies on Sept. 4, 2008 with the inaugural flight of "Entourage Air." Virgin America's inaugural flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS) will launch just in time to celebrate Season 5 of Entourage.
The partners will unveil "Entourage Air," a customized Airbus A320, with a VIP send-off event from a special hangar at JFK, complete with a Dom Perignon Bar and Entourage-themed treats from Godiva. Members of the media are invited to join Virgin Group Founder and Chairman Sir Richard Branson and members of the Entourage cast at the JFK hangar send-off party. The inaugural flight will depart from the hangar and feature an exclusive in-flight sneak peek of Entourage Season 5.
Media and special guests on the party flight to Vegas will experience "Entourage Class" service, including limited-edition Entourage amenities that complement Virgin America's signature upscale design. Virgin America's brand new planes feature moodlighting, custom-designed leather seats, and individual touch-screen entertainment systems with movies, videogames and now for the first time -- episodes of Entourage offered free of charge during the initial month of the partnership. Members of the media also are invited to join guests at a reception upon landing in Las Vegas, to be hosted by the N9NE Group in the Playboy Club at the Palms Casino Resort.

Former DNC Chair Laughs About Hurricane Gustav

A blogger caught Don Fowler, the former national chairman of the Democratic National Committee, joking about Gustav hitting New Orleans on Monday and saying, “That just demonstrates God’s on our side.” Just some dark humor or a career-ending scandal? Is it fair to use a hurricane as a political tool?

Sarah Palin Is NOT The Mother [Photos+Video]

VIA DAILY KOS

Yesterday, with the news of Sarah Louise Heath Palin inexplicably being chosen as a Vice-Presidential nominee, the attentive American public was also introduced to her character. Unfortunately for all of us, it was filled with multiple instances of backtracking and outright lies. While Alaskans had been giving her an 80% approval rating, recently 87% of Alaskans polled on the subject of TrooperGate believed she was lying.

Now, I've known liars in my life. Their single core problem is not with themselves, but those around them. If they're never called out on their twisting of truths and fabrications, they simply continue to make larger lies.

Well, Sarah, I'm calling you a liar. And not even a good one. Trig Paxson Van Palin is not your son. He is your grandson. The sooner you come forward with this revelation to the public, the better.

• ArcXIX's diary :: ::
• 
  

The story begins on March 6th, when Sarah decided to come forward and announce to the world that she was pregnant, a monumental occasion for an acting Governor. Republican Governor Jane Maria Swift of Massachusetts was the first sitting Governor in United States history to give birth in office just seven years before, and now here we were once again. Yet, no one could believe the news:

JUNEAU -- Gov. Sarah Palin shocked and awed just about everybody around the Capitol on Wednesday when she announced she's expecting her fifth child.

...

Palin said she's already about seven months along, with the baby due to arrive in mid-May.

That the pregnancy is so advanced astonished all who heard the news. The governor, a runner who's always been trim, simply doesn't look pregnant.

Even close members of her staff said they only learned this week their boss was expecting.

"I thought it was becoming obvious," Palin said. "You know, clothes getting snugger and snugger."

But people just couldn't believe the news.

"Really? No!" said Bethel state Rep. Mary Nelson, who is close to giving birth herself.

"It's wonderful. She's very well-disguised," said Senate President Lyda Green, a mother of three who has sometimes sparred with Palin politically. "When I was five months pregnant, there was absolutely no question that I was with child."

...

Palin said she's not aiming to take any time off from her job as governor, assuming all goes well with the pregnancy.

...

With Palin riding extraordinarily high popularity ratings, pundits have mentioned her as a potential vice presidential candidate. But she said Wednesday night she's "not pursuing or perpetuating it," adding, "I have no desire to leave my job at all as governor."

...

She's known as a fashion plate, but said she hasn't been dressing differently to cover her barely perceptible bulge.

Funny quote on her having no desire for the Vice-Presidency aside, the article is direly clear. No one knew she was pregnant, not even her own staff. Quite a feat. Why the secrecy? Sarah has never given an answer, and upon further reading, no one has bothered to ask.

Seven months into a pregnancy, and no one noticed.

Even Harry Houdini would be impressed.

And how could anyone tell? Sarah's waistline never changed. Her wardrobe still remained tight and professional. In a video posted in February (nearing five months of pregnancy at the time), Sarah is seen trim, and walking around all of Juneau, Alaska.

@5:50

..."I like running the hills, it kills me, that's why I like it, I mean it thrashes your guts..."

Not exactly terminology said by a pregnant mother. Six months into pregnancy, she attended the National Governor's Association at the White House:

(Full Hi-Res, Far Left)

The Associated Press provides two photos in this timespan, one three days later on February 28th:

And another three days before the announcement, on March 3rd:

Here she is, seven months pregnant, three days after her official announcement:

And one week later:

And that infamous video in which Sarah trashes Hillary Clinton? That was at the Newsweek Women & Leadership Event in Los Angeles, in March:

After previous pregnancies (in this case, four), and at later ages, the female body is meant to adjust and show changes earlier, not later as in Sarah's unprecedented case.

On Friday, April 18th, 2008, Sarah and her husband Todd were in Dallas, Texas for a Republican Governor's Convention. They had been in town for three days already, but Sarah had yet to give her keynote speaker address on energy policy. Then early Friday morning at 4:00am, Sarah began leaking amniotic fluid. Instead of checking into a hospital, she instead made a call to her doctor, and delivered the keynote speech.

"I was not going to miss that speech," she says.

She rushed so quickly from the podium afterwards that Texas Gov. Rick Perry nervously asked if she was about to deliver the baby then.

The oddities only grow from here on, as instead of rushing to a Dallas medical facility that could treat a mother who's amniotic fluid has been draining for hours on end (made even more crucial due to the fact that this is occurring a full month prematurely), Sarah & Todd instead opted to... Fly all the way back from Texas to Alaska. A dangerous choice, as with each pregnancy (once again, in this case after four previous), a mother's window of labor to delivery grows shorter and shorter.

Aboard Alaska Airlines, the flight lasted for eight hours, with an additional landing in Seattle. The majority of commercial airlines require mothers seven months pregnant to provide a doctor's letter to fly, but Sarah did not inform the airline of her condition. Alaska Airlines is one of the few airlines that do not require such a notice, despite the possibility of an emergency landings being required in such scenarios. That said, no one on board noticed that Sarah was going into labor:

"We leave the decision to fly up to our customers and their medical advisers," according to Alaska Airlines representative Caroline Boren.

...

"Governor Palin was extremely pleasant to flight attendants and her stage of pregnancy was not apparent by observation as she didn’t show any signs of distress," Boren said.

Eight months pregnant. A 6.2 pound fetus. No one notices a visible trace. By the third trimester, a perfectly fit woman not wearing anything less than a space suit should be easily spotted as pregnant. Not in Sarah's case.

The plane then made a landing in Anchorage, Alaska. Does Sarah then visit a medical facility that can accommodate a premature birth in Alaska's most equipped city? No. She drives 45 minutes away, to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, right outside the small village she used to govern as Mayor, Wasilla. Trig Palin is then delivered one month premature, Friday night. Sarah returned to work after three days.

The inherent need to absolutely have Trig delivered in a remote and possibly ill-equipped facility for premature deliveries, where Sarah would likely have numerous contacts and pull, does not sit well. The doctor, Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, approving of all of these actions borders on malpractice. Not treating leaking amniotic fluid causes infections, and time is of the essence after water breaks. Husband Todd Palin simply delivers this winner of a line:

"You can't have a fish picker from Texas," said Todd.

A poor motivation, to be sure. Another motivation began making its rounds in the Alaskan legislature, where everyone was initially shocked to hear the news.

Sarah Palin was not pregnant with child.

Her sixteen year-old daughter was.

Checking with the Anchorage High School that Bristol Palin attended, reporters were given word that her family had taken Bristol out of school due to contracting infectious mononucleosis. The amount of time Bristol was absent shifts from five to eight months.

Mono can last anywhere from two weeks to three months, but an eight month infection is a freak oddity. Yet it remains a common excuse given by girls in private & Catholic schools around the nation when pregnancy comes into play. Not the first time, not the last time.

The following photograph of Bristol has been dated late 2007:

(Full Hi-Res, Right)

And the following photograph was printed in the Anchorage Daily News, on March 9th:

Bristol is pregnant in these pictures. She is not carrying belly fat, which grows outwardly wide, and does not become dome-shaped. That's because fat is generally evenly distributed around the abdomen and a fetus is not. Bristol's chest is sticking out, a normal body reaction when sucking in stomach muscles.

Yesterday, the State of Alaska has also moved Sarah's photo page three different times from

http://gov.state.ak.us/...

to

http://www1.gov.state.ak.us/...

to

http://gov.state.ak.us/...

... With losses of photos from January & April.

The final point of interest is that Trig Palin has been diagnosed with Down's syndrome (aka trisomy 21). This is an interesting point, as chances of having offspring with Down's Syndrome increases from under 1% to 3% after a mother reaches the age of 40. However, 80% of the cases of Down's Syndrome are in mother's under the age of 35, through sheer quantities of births in this age group.

People like to think the vetting process is secure, and completed months ahead of time, but ABC News has reported otherwise, painting a picture of a quick vetting process for Sarah by a small, but secretive group of McCain's legal staff. A proper vetting process under those circumstances would only go so far, and the true media vetting process has just begun.

It doesn't come as a surprise that this story was never properly researched. Palin was never on the National scene for more than a few minutes at a time, and local reporting only goes so far on a governor with an 80% approval rating. However, the motivation to cover daughter's pregnancy aligns with her political standings. She valiantly did not perform an abortion, but fell into the fundamentalist way of thinking, and covered up for the illicit (but natural) action's of her daughter.

There could be calls below to delete this information. Calls that this type of information is muckraking and 'below us'. The truth is not below any progressive, nor any citizen of the world that is one heartbeat away from having Palin as leader of the free world. We simply ask that she be forthright, honest, and not waste our time with such juvenile games that anyone with eyes can see as fabrication.

Bristol Palin rightfully should be able to embrace her child in public as her own, with no shame, and no quarter. And a mother should be just as accepting.

What's Wrong with Obama? [Comic]

I can't believe this is a real commercial. It has no shame.

Obituaries: Dolores Aguilar

1929 - Aug. 7, 2008

Dolores Aguilar, born in 1929 in New Mexico, left us on August 7, 2008. She will be met in the afterlife by her husband, Raymond, her son, Paul Jr., and daughter, Ruby.

She is survived by her daughters Marietta, Mitzi, Stella, Beatrice, Virginia and Ramona, and son Billy; grandchildren, Donnelle, Joe, Mitzie, Maria, Mario, Marty, Tynette, Tania, Leta, Alexandria, Tommy, Billy, Mathew, Raymond, Kenny, Javier, Lisa, Ashlie and Michael; great-grandchildren, Brendan, Joseph, Karissa, Jacob, Delaney, Shawn, Cienna, Bailey, Christian, Andre Jr., Andrea, Keith, Saeed, Nujaymah, Salma, Merissa, Emily, Jayci, Isabella, Samantha and Emily. I apologize if I missed anyone.

Dolores had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing.

Her family will remember Dolores and amongst ourselves we will remember her in our own way, which were mostly sad and troubling times throughout the years. We may have some fond memories of her and perhaps we will think of those times too. But I truly believe at the end of the day ALL of us will really only miss what we never had, a good and kind mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I hope she is finally at peace with herself. As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again.

There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, GOOD BYE, MOM.

Miss Buffalo Chip

John McCain suggests his wife enter a topless beauty contest at a Biker Rally in Sturgis, SD. The rash of John McCain making sexist jokes about his wife (and in general) makes me think that misogyny might actually be a calculated campaign tactic.

Do You Feel Safe Now?

	Do You Feel Safe Now?

August 8, 2008
by Paul Craig Roberts

Now that military officers selected by the Bush Pentagon have reached a split verdict convicting Salim Hamdan, a onetime driver for Osama bin Laden, of supporting terrorism, but innocent of terrorist conspiracy, do you feel safe?

Or are we superpower Americans still at risk until we capture bin Laden's dentist, barber, and the person who installed the carpet in his living room?

The Bush Regime with its comic huffings and puffings is unaware that it has made itself the laughing stock of the world, a comedy version of the Third Reich.

Hamdan was not defended by the slick lawyers who got O.J. Simpson off, and he most certainly did not have a jury of his peers. Hamdan was defended by a Pentagon appointed US Navy officer, and his jurors were all Pentagon appointed US military officers with an eye on their careers. Even in this Kangaroo Court, Hamdan was cleared of the main charge.

The US Navy officer who was Hamdan's appointed attorney is certainly no terrorist sympathizer. Yet even this United States officer said that the rules Bush designed for the military tribunals were designed to achieve convictions. He also said that the judge allowed evidence that would not have been admitted by any civilian or military US court. He said that the interrogations of Hamdan, which comprised the basis of the Bush Regime's case, were tainted by coercive tactics, including sleep deprivation and solitary confinement. [Split verdict in first Guantanamo war-crimes trial, AP, August 6, 2008]

Does this make you a proud American?

Do you think you are made more safe when you stand there while "your" government implements its own version of Joseph Stalin's show trials?

The trial and conviction of Hamdan has made every American very unsafe.

The one certain fact about US law is that it is expanded until it applies to everyone. Consider RICO, for example, the asset freeze law that was intended only in criminal cases involving the Mafia; it wasn't long before RICO found its way into civil divorce proceedings.

Bush's multi-year, multi-billion dollar "War on Terror" has been reduced to railroading a low level employee, a driver, for "terrorism."

One would hope that the Hamdan verdict would be enough shame and ridicule for the US in one day. But no, Bush didn't stop there. On his way to the Beijing Olympics, President Bush expressed "deep concerns" for the state of human rights in China.

But not in Guantanamo, nor in Abu Ghraib, nor in the CIA's torture dungeons used for "renditions," nor in Iraq and Afghanistan where the US is expert at bombing weddings, funerals, children's soccer games, and every assortment of civilians imaginable.

As the good book says, clean the beam from your own eye before pointing to the mote in your brother's eye.

But Americans, the salt of the earth, have neither beams nor motes. We are the virtuous few, ordained by God to impose our hegemony on the world. It is written, or so say the neocons.

What would President Bush say if, heaven forbid, the Chinese were as rude as he is and asked Mr. Superpower why the land of "freedom and democracy" has one million names on a watch list. China with a population four times as large doesn't have a watch list with one million names.

What would President Bush say if China asked him why the US, with a population one-fourth the size of China's has hundreds of thousands more of its citizens in prison? The percentage of Americans in prison is far higher than in China and is a larger absolute number.

What would President Bush say if China asked him why he used lies and deception to justify his invasion of Iraq. China, unlike Bush, is not responsible for 1.2 million dead Iraqis and 4 million displaced Iraqis.

China's human rights policy is not perfect. China's greatest human rights failing is that China is the Bush Regime's prime enabler of its war crimes and human rights abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan. By financing Bush's budget deficit, China is financing Bush's gratuitous wars. Indeed, China can be said to finance the weaponry that the US gives Israel to enable the suppression of the Palestinians and with which to bomb the civilian population of Lebanon.

China is a serious human rights abuser, because China is complicit in Bush's human rights abuses.

If we are honest about who is actually murdering and abusing people, it is the US, Israel, and the UK.

There's your "axis of evil."

Strange toothpaste (pics)

In 1940 editor said that Superman was too gay

Vía Io9

Today, fans may refer to the first decade of the Man of Steel's existence as his Golden Age, but back in those days, editors at DC didn't feel the same way. In fact, recently-released documents from that era show that they thought that Superman seemed a little too gay for their liking. Oh, and Lois should have an abortion so that her breasts can go down a size or two, as well.

Going through the correspondence between DC (then called Detective Comics, Inc.) and Superman creator Jerry Siegel from 1939 to 1947 - made public as part of the ongoing lawsuit between Siegel's heirs and DC over the ownership of the character - comics historian Jeff Trexler uncovered some eye-opening remarks from the editors in charge of the Man of Tomorrow:

As the papers reveal, early in the history of Superman, co-creator and artist Joe Shuster was warned to tone down his depiction of Lois Lane by his editor Whitney Ellsworth, and make her less sexy. It was a warning that the artist chose to ignore for months, apparently, causing Ellsworth made an argument that seems shocking even almost seventy years later. Shuster’s Lois was so “unpleasantly sexy” that her pulchritude made her seem a bit too heavy–a problem for which Ellsworth and Murray Boltinoff had an easy solution:
"[W]hy it is necessary to shade Lois’ breasts and the underside of her tummy with vertical pen-lines we can’t understand. She looks pregnant. Murray suggests that you arrange for her to have an abortion or the baby and get it over with so that her figure can return to something a little more like the tasty dish she is supposed to be."

Perhaps more surprising was their take on Superman himself:

Another alleged problem with Shuster’s artwork is that it made Superman look gay — or in the period slang of Ellsworth’s January 22, 1940, letter, “lah-de-dah” with a “nice fat bottom.”

(The letter in question is worth checking out for yourself in Trexler's online archive of the documents; Ellsworth doesn't just mention Superman's "nice fat bottom," but makes a point of saying that he likes it, even though the artwork in general isn't up to standard.)

Whether the documents actually prove either side's case in the ongoing ownership battle is unclear - certainly, the creators' bending to DC's numerous editorial complaints show that the authorship of the characters as we've come to know them wasn't solely Siegel and Shuster's - they definitely show a previously unknown history for one of the most famous fictional characters in the world. And maybe a more interesting one, as well.

Great Live Performance - Santana - Woodstock 1969 Soul Sacrifice

Great Live Performance - Santana - Woodstock 1969 Soul Sacrifice

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