There have been good reasons not to support John Edwards for president. For years, his foreign-policy outlook has been a hodgepodge of insights and dangerous conventional wisdom; his health-care prescriptions have not taken the leap to single payer; and all told, from a progressive standpoint, his positions have been inferior to those of Dennis Kucinich.

But Edwards was the most improved presidential candidate of 2007. He sharpened his attacks on corporate power and honed his calls for economic justice. He laid down a clear position against nuclear power. He explicitly challenged the power of the insurance industry and the pharmaceutical giants.

The main causes of John Edwards biggest problems with the media establishment have been tied in with his firm stands for economic justice instead of corporate power.

But, when it comes to policy positions, hes still no Dennis Kucinich. And thats why, as 2007 neared its end, I planned to vote for Kucinich when punching my primary ballot.

Organisation is key in the 21st-Century always-on work environment, which is why Mouse would like to introduce you to Sandy... your new and unflappable virtual assistant.

Sign up (its free) to the IWantSandy service, and youll receive an email assigning you a

special address with which to contact Sandy. After that, email her directly or cc her in your usual correspondence, and shell lift out meetings, tasks, personal contact information and all the other info-detritus that might otherwise get away from you. Shell file it all in an online diary,

email your computer or Blackberry with reminders, SMS text you if appropriate, and even attach tiny calendar and address book files which will effortlessly add appointments, addresses and phone numbers into Outlook, iCal or your alternative system of choice.

NASHUA, N.H. -- Heres how I, as a professional journalist, roll on the New Hampshire Campaign Trail. First I get into my rental car with my official reporter notebook and a minimum of four bags of Cheez-Its. Then I drive until the Cheez-Its run out (about two miles). Then I look for a school or college that has the following features:

? 800,000 candidate signs stuck into giant mounds of snow.

? Nowhere legal to park because all of the legal parking spaces have been occupied by giant mounds of snow since October.

? A demonstrator dressed as Frosty the Snowman to express concern about global warming.

These features indicate that there is a presidential campaign event going on. So I park illegally, brush off the Cheez-It dust and go inside, where I join the crowd of New Hampshire voters standing around listening to classic rock songs from the 60s and early 70s (required by federal election law) while we wait for the candidate to arrive and tell us that he or she is in favor of Change.

Theyre alive and flourishing, and the internet is the ideal medium on which to enjoy them.
The First Post brings you six daily delights; just click on the relevant masthead and read on.

Our online collection of Aesops Fables includes a total of 655+ Fables, indexed in table format, with morals listed. There are many more on the way. Most were translated into English by Rev. George Fyler Townsend (1814-1900) and Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) the rest are from Jean De La Fontaine in French and translated to English by several good internet souls.

Included are Real Audio narrations, Classic Images, Random Images, Random Fables, Search Engine and much more on the way. Recently added are 127 Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen.

The U.S. Forest Service is experiencing confusion and drift in its central identity and direction, and ambiguity in the way it allocates power and responsibility, a recent survey of Forest Service workers found

At about the same time University of Florida student Andrew Meyer was getting tasered by overly heated campus security guards during an appearance by Sen. John Kerry, TASER International Inc. announced that it had received an order from the United States Forest Service for 700 TASER (r) X26 electronic control devices and related accessories.

"We are excited about this new additional federal agency purchasing TASER technology to protect life," said Tom Smith, Chairman and Founder of TASER international (website), a market leader in advanced electronic control devices. "Traditionally, we have focused law enforcement sales at the local and state level, but we are now seeing acceptance of TASER technology at various federal law enforcement agencies."

The ancient frozen dome cloaking Greenland is so vast that pilots have crashed into what they thought was a cloud bank spanning the horizon. Flying over it, you can scarcely imagine that this ice could erode fast enough to dangerously raise sea levels any time soon.

Most important, many glaciologists say, is the breakup of huge semisubmerged clots of ice where some large Greenland glaciers, particularly along the west coast, squeeze through fjords as they meet the warming ocean. As these passages have cleared, this has sharply accelerated the flow of many of these creeping, corrugated, frozen rivers.

All of these changes have many glaciologists ?a little nervous these days ? shell-shocked,? said Ted Scambos, the lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., and a veteran of both Greenland and Antarctic studies.

The internet is buzzing with Billy boy shoving an Obama staffer this weekend, thanks in large part to our friends at Crooks and Liars. Its been fun watching OReilly make a spectacle of himself, traveling to New Hampshire to beg Barack to come on his show.

Jonathan and Bill, our FOX Attacks duo, rushed in to do a video showing why Obama is so right to remain strong and principled in refusing to go on. See the video and laugh out loud at his invoking the Constitution, I kid you not!

Please spread the video FAR AND WIDE. We want thousands signing on to support Obama in hanging tough against the FOX bullies.

And lets have a little fun too. Post a comment on the blog with all the reasons you can think of why Obama should not go on Billys show. The most compelling/funny/interesting will score some cool BNF gear and a signed Outfoxed: FOX Attacks! Special Edition DVD.

Many nurses wonder about the reputation of online degrees. It is important to attend an accredited school, and when there are clinical rotations involved, to work with a qualified and respected preceptor. Every form of education has its benefits and it is often what you make of it that counts.

Many nursing colleges now have wait lists for nursing students, due to the nursing instructor shortage. An online program will allow the potential student to start their studies sooner. The online college degree arena has allowed more accessibility, so many students who were not able to attend a campus based college program are now able to complete an advanced nursing degree through online or distance learning programs.

BBC News is reporting that a French company has developed a pollution-free car which runs on compressed air. Indias Tata Motors has the car under production and it may be on sale in Europe and India by the end of the year.

The air car, also known as the Mini-CAT or City Cat, can be refueled in minutes from an air compressor at specially equipped gas stations and can go 200 km on a 1.5 euro fill-up -- roughly 125 miles for $3. The top speed will be almost 70 mph and the cost of the vehicle as low as $7000.

Library | About us

CONCORD, N.H. ? Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won New Hampshires Democratic primary Tuesday night in a startling upset, defeating Sen. Barack Obama and resurrecting her bid for the White House. Sen. John McCain powered past his Republican rivals and back into contention for the GOP nomination.

Clintons victory capped a comeback from last weeks third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses and raised the possibility of a long battle for the party nomination between the most viable black candidate in history and the former first lady, who is seeking to become the first woman to occupy the Oval Office.

Giuliani Sinks to Fourth in Florida

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia is leading the race to complete a manned mission to Mars and could land a Russian on the Red Planet by 2025, a leading scientist was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Mars is the most prestigious prize for the Russian space industry if it wants to boost the countrys "scientific and political prestige" through manned space flight, he said.

"We lost the race to the moon," Zelyony said.

Huckabees Hard Turn Right

I think he realizes he now has to punish the children of illegal immigrants to win over the GOP base. One of his more admirable qualities in the race to the immigration bottom on the far right was his refusal to penalize kids. Well: that has now gone, according to the Washington Times.

Huckabee vows to defy birthright citizenship

Huckabee Denies

The Washington Times story I linked to earlier is untrue, according to the guy himself:

I do not support an amendment to the constitution that would prevent children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens from automatically becoming American citizens.  I have no intention of supporting a constitutional amendment to deny birthright citizenship.

A father asked his 10-year old son if he knew about the birds and the bees.

?I don?t want to know,? the child said, bursting into tears. ?Promise me you won?t tell me.?

Confused, the father asked what was wrong.

The boy sobbed, ?When I was six, I got the ?There?s no Easter Bunny? speech.
At seven, I got the ?There?s no Tooth Fairy? speech.
When I was eight, you hit me with the ?There?s no Santa? speech.
If you?re going to tell me that grown-ups don?t really get laid, I?ll have nothing left to live for.?

Charming transverse ladybird rests on a lolly pink petal. Image: Keith Power [more pics]

Time: 20 hours
Level: Advanced

Introduction

2 The varieties of imaginative experience

3 Imagery and supposition

4 Review

Anybody who spends time writing is, at one time or another, vexed by the lack of a gender-neutral pronoun in the English language. Attempts have been made to overcome this problem either by avoiding indefinite pronouns, or by the use of his or her or his/her. Both of these fixes have drawbacks. Their was considered singular until the 18th century but has yet to make a resurgence, despite its pedigree. Because pronouns, in English, belong to a closed word class it has been very difficult to add any neologisms. Thus, we are without a workable resolution.

Yo was tuckin? in his shirt!
Yo threw a thumbtack at me.
Yo been runnin? the halls.
Yo put his foot up.
Yo wearin? a jacket. A coat!
You acting like I said what yo said.
She ain?t really go with yo.
Yo look like a sack ass gump.

"Over the last week, I listened to you, and in the process I found my own voice," the New York senator told supporters.

Ahmadinejad loses favor with Khamenei, Irans top leader

Heres Looking At You

?Conversation? is a fascinating short film on Current TV by Lenka Clayton and James Price about people?s first impressions when looking each other.

A two-screen installation that explores the hidden split-second judgements we form of other people. Filmed with the kind participation of 30 strangers over two days in Dalston, East London.

Conversation, A Film About First Impressions

Tyger is the only UU chaplain on active duty in the Army and one of only a handful throughout the other military branches.

?One of the reasons I went into the army was to be a representative of our faith,? he said. ?There are many religious liberals in the military. But sadly, we have all but abandoned military chaplaincy. The result is that too many UUs and others have no one who can serve their needs in the military.?

He added, ?UUs talk about diversity, but until they follow me around for a day they have no idea. We have officers who have gone to Ivy League schools and guys who grew up in South Boston who have GED degrees. There are Christians, atheists, Wiccans, everything you can think of. The chaplain is the one person they know everyone can go to.?

and the misinformed, deluded ?progressives?

were persuaded by his vague banalities

and his corporate-crafted Telescreen imagery

They falsely believe that he is some sort of

left or populist and antiwar candidate

one unusually forthcoming Obama and self-critical supporter

(the Obamanists were by far and away

the least open to conversation and reflection)

did tell me something I already knew:

That Obama is a way for liberal and moderate whites

to ?pat themselves on the back for not being too prejudiced?

Obama?s race encouraged a lot of ?progressives?

not to do their homework on him

or on the U.S. political culture he reflects

Man injured in car accident dies after 5 hospitals refuse to treat him

HIGASHIOSAKA, Osaka -- A man who was seriously injured in a traffic accident died after five hospitals refused to treat him, police said.

Masao Nishimura, 49, a truck driver from Daito, Osaka Prefecture, was seriously injured after a minibike he was riding collided head-on with a car driven by a 28-year-old male company employee from Osaka on a municipal road in Higashiosaka at around 10:20 p.m. on Wednesday.

An emergency crew arrived at the scene at around 10:33 p.m. and tried to take Nishimura to a hospital, but five emergency medical centers declined to accept him.

What Makes a Terrorist

Participation in terrorism is just a special application of the economics of occupational choice. Some people choose to become doctors or lawyers, and others pursue careers in terrorism. Economics can help us understand why.

A father and son went hunting together for the first time.

The father said, "Stay here and be very QUIET. Ill be across the field." A few minutes later, the father heard a blood curdling scream and ran back to his son.

"Whats wrong?" the father asked. "I told you to be quiet."

The son answered, "Look, I was quiet when the snake slithered across my feet. I was quiet when the bear breathed down my neck. But when the two squirrels crawled up my pant legs and said, Should we eat them here or take them with us?

"I guess I just panicked...."

The Secrets Every Man Must Know Before Purchasing Lingerie

At some point in his relationship every man fantasizes about his wife, girlfriend or fiancé getting dressed up in sexy lingerie and showing off her body to him. Unfortunately buying lingerie for your partner can be one of the most intimidating purchases most guys will ever have to make as there are so many different variables to consider and even making a mistake on just on of them could ruin the gift for both of you. What size is she? What colors does she like? What style would accent her best body features? Where are you going to shop for lingerie at? These are just a few of the things you need to consider when selecting the perfect lingerie to be given as a gift.

Riot police had to be called in at several Anglican churches in Harare and Chitugwiza as clashes between rival factions aligned to Bishops Nolbert Kunonga and Sebastian Bakare erupted.

Native Californian Al Qaeda Leader Makes Threats Against Bush Middle East Visit

Teachers hint they be awarded a massive salary increment or the government be prepared to face a massive teachers strike as schools open for the first term this year.

Political heavyweight Dumiso Dabengwa has unmasked the leader of the War Veterans Association Jabulani Sibanda, the man behind the ?million man? march as an opportunist who never took part in the protracted liberation struggle for Zimbabwe.

A federal magistrate ordered the White House on Tuesday to reveal whether copies of possibly millions of missing e-mails are stored on computer backup tapes.

The order by U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola comes amid an effort by the White House to scuttle two lawsuits that could force the Executive Office of the President to recover any e-mail that has disappeared from computer servers where electronic documents are automatically archived.

In their lawsuits, the National Security Archive and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington suggest the e-mails were improperly deleted from White House computer servers. Over 5 million White House e-mails are missing, CREW alleged. Recently, the group said it has been told by reliable sources that the actual figure of missing e-mail is over 10 million.

Good job by CREW. And it?s not surprising that the White House will do everything it can to prevent these emails from being exposed. 

David J. Dalaia and James OHare pushed Virgilio Cintrons body from the Manhattan apartment that OHare and Cintron shared to Pay-O-Matic, about a block away, spokesman Paul Browne said witnesses told police.

"The witnesses saw the two pushing the chair with Cintron flopping from side to side and the two individuals propping him up and keeping him from flopping from side to side," Browne said.

The men left Cintrons body outside the store, went inside and tried to cash his $355 check, Browne said. The stores clerk, who knew Cintron, asked the men where he was, and OHare told the clerk they would go and get him, Browne said.

in the National Guard is sexually assaulted

werent appalling enough, keep in mind

what Defense Department spokesperson

Cynthia Smith said in response:

"Sexual assault is the nations most underreported crime"

the National Organization for Women,

have displayed apathy in face of this dreadful story While our country ties yellow ribbons on trees,

some of the troops we claim to support

are sexually assaulted and then ignored when

they return home from an unnecessary and unjust war Meanwhile, the rapists go unpunished

and remain in the barracks to prey on their next victim If America is serious about supporting soldiers

it is essential that this problem be addressed

and leaders be held accountable for their cruel indifference

Not even the air conditioned office warriors of Fox News have spoken in defense of soldiers raped on duty.

Instead they devote mindless hours of television to attacking "the liberals"

What not to do: Top 10 international faux pas

1 Blowing your nose into a handkerchief in Japan

2 Getting your hosts name the wrong way round in China

3 Confusing a Canadian with an American

4 Keeping your shoes on in a temple or home in the Far East

5 Looking at your feet when drinking a toast in Scandinavia

6 Teasing an Australian about how useless their national team is

7 Giving a bottle of malt whisky in a pigskin bottle holder to an Arab host

8 Being on time for an Argentinian dinner party

9 Eating with your left hand in Africa and India

10 Leaving your chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice in China or Japan

.Poison Dart Frog

Cape Buffalo

animals do this by trying to blend in with their natural environment.

A customer comes into a computer store. "Im looking for a mystery adventure game with lots of graphics ... something really challenging." The clerk replies, "Have you tried Vista?"

Dom Armentano: Intelligent extraterrestrial life: The other inconvenient truth?

If true, why the extreme secrecy and deception?

A moral fable, especially one having animals or inanimate objects as characters.

There is increasing concern amongst a wide range of commentators that human nature is in the process of being irrevocably changed by technological advances which either have been achieved or are in the pipeline. According to a multitude of op-ed writers, cultural critics, social scientists and philosophers, we have not faced up to the grave implications of what is happening. We are sleep-walking and need to wake up. Human life is being so radically transformed that our very essence as human beings is under threat.

ScienceDaily (Jan. 8, 2008) ? 2008 is set to be cooler globally than recent years say Met Office and University of East Anglia climate scientists, but is still forecast to be one of the top-ten warmest years.

Each January the Met Office, in conjunction with the University of East Anglia, issues a forecast of the global surface temperature for the coming year. The forecast takes into account known contributing factors, such as El Niño and La Niña, increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, the cooling influences of industrial aerosol particles, solar effects and natural variations of the oceans.

Global temperature for 2008 is expected to be 0.37 °C above the long-term (1961-1990) average of 14.0 °C, the coolest year since 2000, when the value was 0.24 °C.

For 2008, the development of a strong La Niña in the tropical Pacific Ocean will limit the warming trend of the global climate

1. Trepanation

2. Female hysteria

3. Expanding Earth

4. Phrenology

5. The Island of California

When it comes to personal temperament, Governor Romney would rate the highest for his even keel, regardless of what events are swirling around him, with Rudolph Giuliani a close second.

Temperament is far more important for a President than for a candidate. A President has to be on an even keel 24/7, for four long years, despite crises that can break out anywhere in the world at any time.

John McCain trails the pack in the temperament department, with his volatile, arrogant, and abrasive know-it-all attitude. His track record in the Senate is full of the betrayals of Republican supporters that have been the partys biggest failing over the years and its Achilles heel politically.

McCains betrayals include not only the amnesty bill but also the McCain-Feingold bill that violated the First Amendment for the illusion of "taking money out of politics." His back-door deal with Democrats on judicial nominations also pulled the rug out from under his party leaders in the Senate.

original                   anagram ******                     ****** dormitory..................dirty room evangelist.................evils agent desperation................a rope ends it the Morse Code.............here come dots slot machines..............cash lost in em animosity..................is no amity mother-in-law..............woman Hitler snooze alarms..............alas! no more Zs Alec Guinness..............genuine class Semolina...................is no meal the public art galleries...large picture halls, I bet a decimal point............Im a dot in place the earthquakes............that queer shake eleven plus two............twelve plus one contradiction..............accord not in it

Police: Dad threw 4 kids off bridge

The Healing Power of Dogs

Dogs have long had special standing in the medical world. Trained to see for the blind, hear for the deaf and move for the immobilized, dogs have become indispensable companions for people with disabilities.

Jack Nicholson:

Beatles:

Bjork:

Elton John:

Madonna:

Brad Pitt:

Julia Roberts:

Red Hot Chili Peppers:

Paris Hilton, Snoop Dog, Paul McCartney:

These amazing pictures were made by Pablo Lobato - the famous Argentinian artist. He sees celebrities in a special way, being able to pass resemblance in caricatures by drawing just a few lines - see for yourself:

In the worst incident eight members of one family died when their mudbrick house collapsed under the weight of snow in western Herat province overnight, Nooruddin Ahmadi, head of the Afghan Red Crescent in Herat, said.

Among others killed were six shepherds from a mountainous region in the province and two people in an avalanche nearby, he added.

Five perished in another avalanche in neighbouring Farah province.

More than 250 policemen have been left stranded by the poor weather and at least 16 civilians are missing.

In nearby Ghor province, another rugged and mountainous region, three people were killed when an avalanche smothered their home, Ikramuddin Rezazada, deputy governor of Ghor said.

A number of organ donation groups said Monday that they are unaware of new Health Canada regulations that mean sexually active gay men, injection drug users and other groups considered high risk will no longer be accepted as organ donors.

The new rules, which came into effect in December, are similar to the regulations for determining who can donate blood. Those rules exclude groups that are at high risk of transmitting infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C and B.

Officials at several transplant programs in the country said because they were unaware of the new regulations, they would continue to consider all potential donor organs.

The Supreme Court is getting a well-earned reputation for cruelty.

In recent years, the court?s conservatives ? with a different line-up of Justices ? upheld a 50 year prison sentence for a man who shoplifted a few children?s videotapes.

Last year, the court ruled that an inmate who filed an appeal by the deadline set by a federal district court judge had lost his right to appeal because the federal judge had made a mistake by a few days in setting the deadline.

Today, Justice Antonin Scalia struck another blow for cruelty. In Supreme Court arguments over executions using lethal injection, he took a swipe at those who argue that states need to avoid inflicting unncessary pain.

Where, he asked, is it written that states must choose the ?least painful method? of executing someone? ?Is that somewhere in the Constitution??

The court was considering ?an execution,? he emphasized, ?not surgery.?

Solar rays can help protect against some cancers and heart disease, say scientists

It has been the common wisdom for decades and the mantra of the pale and pasty who would rather not get hot and bothered: stay out of the sun to avoid getting skin cancer. If you must go out, slap on the sunscreen or cover up.

But that advice might need some reconsideration: a study suggests that the health benefits of vitamin D, which is produced by the skin when it is exposed to sunshine, could justify a modest increase in the amount of time we spend in the sun. "Since vitamin D has been shown to play a protective role in a number of internal cancers and possibly a range of other diseases, it is important to study the relative risks to determine whether advice to avoid sun exposure may be causing more harm than good in some populations," said Richard Setlow, a biophysicist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US and an expert on the link between solar radiation and skin cancer.

When strangers ask her for directions, Karen Kostyal responds quickly. She has lived around Washington about 30 years and has a well-rooted sense of the area. Nonetheless, the Alexandria resident says, "my husband usually cuts in," supporting the stereotype that men feel their sense of orientation and direction is superior.

"No question," says Buzz Smith, Kostyals husband. "Its not that I dont get lost. [But] I can give directions . . . better than my wife can."

That assertion may be contestable, but there are well-documented differences in how men and women get from Point A to Point B -- perhaps giving a scientific root to timeworn jokes about women being batty drivers and men never admitting (though committing) error. Studies over the past decade have shown that women are likelier to rely on landmarks and visual cues, and men on maps, cardinal directions (such as north and south) and gauges of distance.

Mark Khaisman builds up layers of tape on a plexiglass sheet to create a range of shades and then mounts the sheet on a light box. His pictures range from chairs to people.

Mark Khaisman creates his pictures out of layers of tape

"My main motivation is my love for classics," Mr Khaisman said.

"The images are archetypes derived from the cultural heritage: art, architecture, movies. I am trying to be faithful to the source, but in the process of interpretation all kinds of things happen.

"The reason is submerged in the shadows, the purpose is absorbed by the light, the cultural icon has become the personal experience."

Originally trained as an architect in Moscow, Mr Khaismans unusual works were recently shown at the Centre for Emerging Visual Arts in Philadelphia where he is now based.

As Vera emerges from her den at Nuremberg Zoo, she carries her tiny cub - believed to weigh less than 8lb - by the scruff of its neck.

But rather than a loving encounter this was, in fact, the final scene from an extraordinary drama involving primeval nature, a controversial zoo experiment and a tragic outcome.

Moments later, Vera began violently swinging the cub round her head. When she dumped it in the den, keepers moved in to rescue the cub.

An attempt to force the bears to raise their cubs as nature intended has already led to two others being eaten by their confused mother, Wilma.

This grisly find, which keepers discovered yesterday, forced them to move in on Vera and - finally - check on her cub.

The zoo hurriedly announced that keepers would begin bottle-feeding the surviving cub.

NEW findings seem to contradict one of the most widely accepted assumptions about ageing: that the human brain is at its most powerful between the ages of 18 and 26.

Scientists have discovered that intelligence, instead of peaking in our youth, remains stable and, in some respects, gets sharper as we grow older.

The researchers found that verbal skills continued to increase for at least two decades beyond the age of 20, while arithmetic ability remained constant.

Their work suggests that many of the assumptions made by employers, policymakers and educational institutions about ageing need to be rethought.

?Verbal ability appears to keep increasing over time,? said Lars Larsen, a psychologist at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, who led the research.

After finding alcohol in her sons car, she decided to sell the car and share her 19-year-olds misdeed with everyone -- by placing an ad in the local newspaper.

The ad reads: "OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously dont love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet."

The only critic is her son, who Hambleton says is "very, very unhappy" with the ad and claims the alcohol was left by a passenger.

Hambleton believes her son but has decided mercy isnt the best policy in this case. She says she set two rules when she bought the car at Thanksgiving: No booze, and always keep it locked.

The car has been sold, but Hambleton says she will continue the ad for another week -- just for the feedback. E-mail to a friend

If the Clintons are losing, the crazy can?t be far behind.

With the voting underway in New Hampshire and the final polls showing her trailing Barack Obama by double digits, Hillary and Bill are now driving the crazy train.

And today, more craziness:  Bill was asked what is going on with their campaign, and not having a clue, he unloaded on Obama : ?This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I?ve ever seen,? he said.  And he?s seen a lot of them, believe me.

And going negative against a guy who has been nothing but classy and positive on the campaign trail is going to backfire on you.

FEC Reduced to Offering Advice

Without a Quorum, Rulings on Campaigns Are Nonbinding

Down to two members and unable to muster a quorum, the Federal Election Commission has decided to offer advice instead of binding decisions on questions from political campaigns.

This week, organizations with pending requests for decisions from the six-member FEC on campaign matters received phone calls from agency staffers letting them know not to expect formal rulings anytime soon.

The groups were told that the FECs two remaining members will hold a public hearing Jan. 24 to share their informal views on the requests. The board lacks the four votes needed for the commission to take official action on a number of matters, including enforcement cases.

Contested cases from late last year -- those that resulted in disagreement among FEC board members -- are in limbo, Mason said. And more of them are stacking up every day.

Dog saves boy from fire by biting foot

PORTAGE, Ind. - A black Labrador that bit a 13-year-old boys foot repeatedly, waking him up, is being credited with saving the boy and two of his friends from a house fire. Christopher Peebles said he woke up Friday morning to feel his dog Laney biting his foot repeatedly in the basement of his familys home, where he and two friends had spent the night.

"I thought she had to go to the bathroom, but she never bites me," Peebles said Friday.

He and his friends walked upstairs with Laney and noticed smoke everywhere in the home.

"We came up the stairs and thought it was a dream, but it was cold when we opened the door ? then we knew it wasnt a dream," Pebbles said.

Firefighters arrived about 10 a.m. and found the homes garage and eaves on fire. Assistant Fire Chief Mike Bucy said the damage was mostly in the attached one-car garage of the ranch home.

Europa is the crescent on the lower left, and Io (obviously) is the one on the upper right. The plume you see is from the volcano Tvashtar, which has been active for quite some time now. If you look right at the bottom of the plume, you can see molten sulfur glowing red. Two other volcanoes appear to be making some noise as well.

In this composite image of the galaxy cluster Abell 520 using Chandra, CFHT, and the Subaru telescope, red is normal matter heated to millions of degrees, and blue shows the location of the dark matter. The problem is, where the normal matter is densest the dark matter is least dense, and vice-versa. That?s the opposite of what?s expected here. Perhaps dark matter particles interact with each other differently than we think, or there was some odd factor in the cluster collision that?s throwing a monkey wrench into the works.

Reading the Murdoch Street JournalWhere is the rotten old bastard taking his latest acquisition?

Media scholar Ben Compaine tells me he thinks the Wall Street Journal has begun to reflect the journalistic philosophy of genocidal tyrant Rupert Murdoch, who completed his acquisition of its parent company, Dow Jones & Co., in the middle of December.

Murdoch had promised to increase the amount of hard news in the Journal, particularly political and international coverage, and to compete directly with the New York Times. The evidence Compaine cites is the Journals me-too coverage of the Pakistan crisis, which he thinks bears Murdochs fingerprints. Pointing to the papers Jan. 2 lead story?"Pakistan to Delay Vote, Risking Violent Reaction"?Compaine complains via e-mail, "Like we needed Wednesdays Journal to tell us this?"*

The Pirate?s Dilemma

We live in a world where it is legal for a company to patent pigs, or any other living thing except for a full birth human being, but copying a CD you bought onto your hard drive is considered an infringement of someone else?s rights. A place where an average law abiding citizen could owe more than $12 million dollars in fines if they were sued every time they accidentally violated copyright law in a single day. A society where it?s ok for each of us to be hit with 5,000 advertising messages every 24 hours, usually without our permission, but creating a piece of art and placing it in public yourself without permission can land you in prison. This isn?t just about the pros and cons of file sharing - this is about an entire species losing its sense of perspective, failing to understand the potential of one of its most precious (and yet most abundant) resources.

Among the reasons that energy analysts cite for crude oils strong showing so far:

The novel control method was introduced after traditional measures, such as fences and repellents failed to keep the animals away.

In the past pilots using Bari airport - including low cost carriers Ryanair - have complained of problems caused during take off and landings because of the foxes and hares and several times the airport has been forced to close as a result.

Cheyenne, who has an impressive 7ft 6in wing span is the only eagle in use for pest control in Europe, officials turned to one of the worlds prodigious hunters.

And the six-month-old bird reared in Germany can lift 40lb - almost three times her body weight - has imposed a unique shadow over the airport and its surrounding woodland where terrified foxes now hide.

Some of the coolest things can be found by getting down to the ground and taking a close look at the tiny things that make up our natural world. The Hidden Forest aims to help you identify all the mosses, liverworts, and bryophytes you might come across.

Unlike other very good nature I.D. sites (such as Whats That Bug?), The Hidden Forest gets all geeky and delves into the classification names and lineage of the different plants. (If youre into fungus, this is the site to visit.)

Right now, much of the content is centered on New Zealand flora, but there are plenty of US equivalents. You can spend time outdoors with your kids geocaching or animal tracking, or you can now go mold hunting.

Early report on the Miramar meeting

For those who have been following this adventure for the past few months, you probably thought that Polk County was the Florida poster child for anti-science sentiments. This story, though, shows that even Polk County can be one-upped:

Last month Taylor County School Board unanimously approved a resolution saying the district is opposed to teaching evolution as a fact.

If you think Taylor County school board members and Ms. Callaway are wrong on this issue, as Florida Citizens for Science does, then don?t just sit around waiting to see what happens. Do something! Write, call, e-mail ? make your voice heard! Use information from our county list and combine it with our ?All I Want ? is a Good Science Education? call to action project.

Don?t let Florida be the laughingstock of the country ? and world.

Ministers published the findings as they urged bosses to set up libraries in former workplace smoking rooms to transform employees reading habits.

Launching the National Year of Reading campaign, they said research showed nearly half of adults had read at least five books in the previous 12 months.

Yet a quarter had not read a single book during the same period, including almost half of males aged between 16 and 24, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics.

A separate survey had shown a third of Britons read "challenging literature" in order to seem well-read even though they could not follow what the book was about.

It also found that 40 per cent had lied about having read certain books "just so they could join in with the conversation".

But a hospitals administrative blunder meant she was not seen by a consultant until she fell ill. And then it was too late, an inquest heard on Tuesday.

Miss Hutchings, like mother and aunt, died from a brain haemorrhage and at the inquest the coroner said he found it incredible her family background had "slipped through the net".

Keith Wiseman said the oversight at Southampton General Hospital was "like going through six or seven red lights and not realising".

Miss Hutchings, from Fareham, Hampshire, died at the hospital on November 16, 2005, before she was able to see her baby, Nikita, who weighted just 3lb 6oz.

The child was delivered by Caesarean section while Miss Hutchings was kept alive on a life-support machine.

Kellys aunt: Sue Hickmott also died at 22

I think our solar system is in need of a serious public relations image upgrade.

For example, if you were a hostile alien race, which of these two planets would you be less likely to attack?

Or how about...

The imposing name "Megalon 14" implies that weve already exhausted the resources of at least thirteen other planets and left their smouldering husks behind us.

The Moon would get a similar makeover.

Here is an astronaut from Megalon 14 conquering the imperial moon Zylox in the landing assault craft Fear-Bringer 9500. Raw materials will be extracted from Zylox and used to fuel the twisted ambitions of the Megalon Empire.

Heres a picture of the Megalon attack shuttle Hostility which is used to ferry high energy weapon platforms into orbit around Megalon 14.

With a few simple inexpensive changes like these, spacefaring civilizations will think twice before invading our planet.

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WASHINGTON - France, Japan and Australia rated best and the United States worst in new rankings focusing on preventable deaths due to treatable conditions in 19 leading industrialized nations, researchers said on Tuesday.

If the U.S. health care system performed as well as those of those top three countries, there would be 101,000 fewer deaths in the United States per year, according to researchers writing in the journal Health Affairs.

Nolte said the large number of Americans who lack any type of health insurance ? about 47 million people in a country of about 300 million, according to U.S. government estimates ? probably was a key factor in the poor showing of the United States compared to other industrialized nations in the study.

?I wouldn?t say it (the last-place ranking) is a condemnation, because I think health care in the U.S. is pretty good if you have access. But if you don?t, I think that?s the main problem, isn?t it?? Nolte said in a telephone interview.

Christian extremism raises alarm

A trial resumes today for a Slavic man charged with killing a gay man in Sacramento, Calif.

Sacramento, Calif. - A hate-crime trial reconvenes Friday in a case thats dividing Sacramento and drawing attention from organizations that monitor extremists.

Alex Shevchenko has been arraigned for a hate crime tied to the assault and eventual death of Satender Singh in July. According to prosecutors, Mr. Shevchenko and Andrey Vusik taunted Mr. Singh in a park because they thought he was gay. Mr. Vusik eventually threw a punch that toppled Singh, dashing his head, they charge.

Gay leaders in Sacramento say the incident followed several years of escalating tensions with some Slavic immigrants.

"The gut feeling of the [gay] community is that preaching among the local Russian evangelical community is breeding hate and that something would happen. And Satender was the something that happened," says Ed Bennett, a gay Democratic activist.

Police were today searching for the bodies of four children believed to have been thrown off a bridge in Alabama by their father in an apparent act of revenge.

Lam Luong, 37, confessed to driving to the Dauphin Island bridge, stopping and tossing the youngsters off the span, which is as high as 80 feet above the water in places.

Luong faced charges of four counts of capital murder and was due in court.

Missing and presumed dead were 4-month-old Danny Luong; 1-year-old Lindsey Luong; 2-year-old Hannah Luong; and 3-year-old Ryan Phan. Phan is not the mans biological child, but Luong raised him from infancy, authorities said.

At least three boats were being used in the search, and the Coast Guard was sending another boat and a helicopter, Riva said.

"Its been a nightmare," said Riva.

The Dauphin Island bridge connects coastal Alabama to a barrier island located about 5 kilometres south of Mobile Bay in the Gulf of Mexico.

    Provocation in the Strait of Hormuz
    By Marc Ash
    t r u t h o u t | Perspective

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Do We Have a Natural Bias Toward Superstitions?

A top British psychologist is attempting to explain the biological basis for superstitions.

In an unusual experiment during a recent lecture, Hood demonstrated that ordinary people often behave in irrational ways, so scientists? efforts to combat ?irrational? beliefs ultimately may be futile. He asked members of his audience if they would try on an old blue cardigan in return for a small financial reward. After receiving many volunteers, he then stated that the cardigan used to belong to the English serial killer Fred West. At this point, most of the volunteers put their hands down.

According to Hood, people often attach meaning to physical objects ? a common, if not completely logical, belief. ?A minority of people are totally rational; I doubt if I could find a totally cold rationalist,? he said.

The sweater experiment at the BBC

Psychology of superstitions

Debating The Stillborn God

Lilla argues that the Enlightenment made a radical break between religion and politics that haunts us till this day. For millennia, there had been a generally accepted pattern of meaning across cultures linking the cosmic order, the political system and the individual soul, in which political order was dictated by revelation. The one exception to that linkage is the modern secular West. There, following the wars of religion, Thomas Hobbes achieved a ?Great Separation? by making religion the projection of a fear-filled individual psychology and government the instrument of human desire.

Dear Drew,

You are absolutely right that Lillas construction of a "great separation" is based on a misleading contrast between theocratic political theology and secular political philosophy. This is purely an analytical device, which Lilla superimposes upon real history.