Alcoholism: What you might not know

• Story Highlights
• Study: Men have more than a 20 percent lifetime risk of alcohol-use disorders
  
• Three medications are available in the U.S. to treat alcoholism
  
• As much as 60 percent of the risk of alcohol-use disorders comes from genes
  
• Next Article in Health »

(CNN) -- Concerns about alcohol abuse have been making headlines this week.

First, the Indian state of Rajasthan reportedly announced it would shut down 800 alcohol shops. Then, in Britain, chief medical officer Liam Donaldson recommended Thursday that anyone 15 years old and younger avoid alcohol completely.

Its no wonder people are worried.

A recent survey of alcoholism studies in the Lancet suggests that men have more than a 20 percent lifetime risk of developing alcohol-use disorders, while womens risk is 8 to 10 percent.

A woman who drinks two glasses of wine every day is at risk for developing liver trouble, a doctor says.

Dec 27, 2008  
FBI Acknowledges Thorough Research and Analysis of AE911Truth

Michael J. Heimbach, Assistant Director, Counterterrorism Division, FBI

The FBIs Michael J. Heimbach, Assistant Director, Counterterrorism Division, says: "Mr. Gage presents an interesting theory, backed by thorough research and analysis."

Click here to see the letter from Assistant Director Heimbach to Harold Saive of the Florida-based gators911truth.org.

 
Watch the
2008 Edition
Trailer
 
9/11: Blueprint for Truth ?

As seen in this revealing photo, the Twin Towers destruction exhibited all the characteristics of destruction by explosions: (and some non-standard characteristics)

Destruction proceeds through the path of greatest resistance at nearly free-fall acceleration

Unnatural symmetry of debris distribution

Bloomberg reports that, according to recently released IRS data, ?the average tax rate paid by the richest 400 Americans fell by a third to 17.2 percent through the first six years of the Bush administration and their average income doubled to $263.3 million.? Much of their income came from capital gains resulting from the Bush tax cuts:

Capital gains made up 63 percent of the richest 400 Americans? adjusted gross income in 2006, or a combined $66.1 billion, according to the data. In all, the 400 wealthiest Americans reported a combined $105.3 billion of adjusted gross income in 2006, the most recent year for which the IRS has data.

US Economic Implosion

Val Doonican - Paddy McGlntys Goat (with lyrics)

First a refresher course on the history of the Googlebomb, ?Miserable Failure.?

But now that Mr. Obama?s official biography now resides on that same page, the Solons at Google have decided this is unacceptable.

By the way, Google probably ?became aware of this latest Googlebomb? when an outraged New York Times alerted them on January 23, 2009.

Talk about quick results.

Please note that it took a mere six and a half long years ? but only a couple of days after Mr. Obama was inaugurated ? for Google to decide this was all terribly wrong and that they had to "re-run? their ?algorithm.?

These three simple words, when uttered honestly to one you care about, open whole new worlds of possibility. They are the key to self-growth, and of a deeper and more positive relationship with those around you.

These words are: I dont know.

If someone - and particularly a child - asks you a question about how something works or why something happens, and you dont know the answer or feel confident to explain it properly, the most important thing you can do is to admit, "I dont know". Once this has been said, the two of you can seek out the relevant knowledge and learn from it.

At some point in our lives, we must learn that people in positions of power or authority dont know everything, and that seeking out knowledge from a wide variety of sources is the best way to learn about the world. Teach your children that, and they will be better equipped to deal with the world they grow up into.

Six Ways to Boost Brainpower

The adult human brain is surprisingly malleable: it can rewire itself and even grow new cells. Here are some habits that can fine-tune your mind

Cocktail Party Tidbits
>> Some of the best brain foods: walnuts, blueberries and spinach.

Gay, Straight, or Metrosexual

What are You?

Your Score: Straight

Better Thermal Photovoltaics

A new way to convert heat into electricity could lead to more efficient solar power.

Are We Civilized Enough to Hold Our Leaders Accountable for War Crimes? The World Is Watching

By John W. Dean, FindLaw.com. Posted January 24, 2009.

Remarkably, the confirmation of President Obamas Attorney General nominee, Eric Holder, is being held up by Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn, who apparently is unhappy that Holder might actually investigate and prosecute Bush Administration officials who engaged in torture. Aside from this repugnant new Republican embrace of torture (which might be a winning issue for the lunatic fringe of the party and a nice way to further marginalize the GOP), any effort to protect Bush officials from legal responsibility for war crimes, in the long run, will not work.

Billions and Billions of Baby Stars

When Carl Sagan said there were billions and billions of stars, he wasn?t wrong. But just how many billions, we still don?t know.

Moreover, scientists would like to know how many of each size and type of star there is, and how our sun fits into the larger populations of stars in our galaxy and our universe.

To further that goal, astronomers recently used the CISCO infrared camera on the Subaru telescope in Hawaii to observe a region called W3 Main, a well known baby star factory. The new images revealed the area, located about 6,000 light years away in the constellation Cassiopeia, in unprecedented detail.

Studying star-forming regions is a good strategy for taking a census of stars, since most stars we see in these areas were formed at roughly the same time. When time is taken out of the equation, astronomers can get a better handle on how many stars of each mass range are formed, to discover which sizes are most common.

From $80,000 a year to eviction: Hard times in America

Amber Easton has gone from $80,000 a year in salary to scrambling for work. At a time in her life when she should be scaling the corporate ladder, she has instead spiraled into a deep depression. She recently lost her car and now faces eviction from her apartment.
Job fairs have been on the rise amid the nation?s hard economic times.

Just last week, the 35-year-old longtime working professional attended two job fairs with friends in the Detroit area. They stood in line for over three hours with hundreds of professionals of all types.

?It was a real eye-opener to see the caliber of people we were in line with ? very educated with vast skill sets,? Easton said in an e-mail. ?Afterwards, we went to the restaurant located in the same hotel and it was filled with unemployed professionals sharing their story, from engineers to graphic designers to marketing professionals.?

Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group.

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1948 and came into effect in January 1951. It defines genocide in legal terms, and is the culmination of years of campaigning by lawyer Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term by reference to the Simele massacre, the Holocaust, and the Armenian Genocide. All participating countries are advised to prevent and punish actions of genocide in war and in peacetime. The number of states that have ratified the convention is currently 140.

Global Hunger Index

Darfur

Gordon Brown, prime minister

The British prime minister seems to have been completely dazzled by the movers and shakers in the Square Mile, putting the Citys interests ahead of other parts of the economy, such as manufacturers. He backed "light touch" regulation and a low-tax regime for the thousands of non-domiciled foreign bankers working in London and for the private equity business.

Teacher is top of the porn

Blagojevich impeachment trial: audio, transcripts

Recording 1 audio: How we doin?

January 27, 2009

 

 

Recording 1 transcript

January 27, 2009

 

 

Recording 2 audio: Im at the track

January 27, 2009

 

 

Recording 2 transcript

January 27, 2009

 

 

Recording 3 audio: This has all gotta be in now

January 27, 2009

 

 

Recording 3 transcript

January 27, 2009

 

 

Recording 4 audio: I got in his face

January 27, 2009

 

 

Recording 4 transcript

January 27, 2009

 

 

Audio recordings 1-4, inclusive

January 27, 2009

 

 

George W Bush, former US president

Clinton might have started the sub-prime ball rolling, but the Bush administration certainly did little to put the brakes on the vast amount of mortgage cash being lent to "Ninja" (No income, no job applicants) borrowers who could not afford them. Neither did he rein back Wall Street with regulation (although the government did pass the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the wake of the Enron scandal).

Cat mothers fox-cub

Life is the process of being able to understand and accept our parents, our spouse, our children and our friends despite their occasional hurts and insults to our heart!

Life is striving hard to progress from ?where we are? to reach the stage of? where we deserve to be!?

Life is to understand that living is a balance sheet of adjustments, discussions, negotiations and appreciations. There shall always be the profit and the loss factor in life!

Life is sharing our livelihood with our near and dear ones, but still trying to keep a reserve of a wee bit of something for our future needs!

Life is being able to say what we want to say to someone we love, without worrying about the consequences of what we had said!

Life is to be able to find someone who shall be ready to accept us as what we are and not what they want us to become!

Life is to understand and accept ourselves for what we are and not for what we want us to become!

TEHRAN, Jan. 28 (ISNA)-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said a cursory glance at the following events of the Second World War suggests the issue of holocaust is an excuse by the war winners particularly the US and Britain for domination over the world.

In his message to the conference on Holocaust, the Wests Sacred Lie, held in Tehran, Tuesday, Ahmadinejad said a large number of media, wealth and power centers are under Zionists control and they are plundering wealth of different nations.

The creation of illegitimate Zionist regime is among Holocaust aftermaths, after the war a political and power-seeking system which claimed to be defendants of some war victims said the survivors of these victims need to receive a blood-money and added that establishment of Zionist regime in Palestine is a part of the compensation.

Through the excuse, they attacked Palestine, killed and displaced a large number of people

Nos están convirtiendo en una sociedad de mendigos, dice un economista de Gaza

Lithium deposits could power long-exploited Bolivias future

RIO GRANDE, Bolivia ? On a remote Andean plain here, a short drive on unpaved roads from the worlds largest salt flat, 120 government workers are constructing a facility to help power the fuel-efficient electric cars of the future.

The plant, in a sparsely populated region, is supposed to begin producing basic compounds of lithium, which is used to make batteries for cell phones, power tools, computers and other electronic devices, by years end.

Government officials think that Bolivia possesses the worlds biggest lithium reserves, and they also think that the country is poised to profit big-time from the automakers push to develop electric cars that will run on lithium ion batteries.

Hamas está pagando con cheques compensación de guerra en Gaza

GAZA (Reuters) - El Gobierno de Hamas en la Franja de Gaza dijo el viernes que había comenzado a repartir cheques, más que dinero en efectivo, a familias cuyos hogares fueron destruidos por la ofensiva israelí de 22 días en el territorio.

Ahmed al-Kurd, ministro Hamas de Bienestar dijo que el Gobierno entregó cheques equivalentes a 4.000 euros (5.000 dólares) a 2.700 familias cuyas casas fueron completamente demolidas. Más de 5.000 hogares resultaron destruidos durante la ofensiva, de acuerdo a las cifras estimadas de Hamas.

In Jerusalem, Arabs and Jews Finally Agree ...

JERUSALEM -- It took perhaps nearly a millennium, but Arabs and Jews who each claim this sacred city as their own have found a cause that unites them: hostility to a streetcar none desire.

At a time when conflict over Gaza is pouring yet more poison into the gulf separating Israelis from Palestinians, a repeatedly stalled and still unfinished Jerusalem tram project is galvanizing the citys feuding camps against a common foe.

The whole project, says Mayor Nir Barkat, voicing a view widely shared across religious and ethnic lines, has been "a very negative experience." The elected mayor, who took office late last year, proposes converting more than four miles of track already laid into a bus lane.

Some parents worry about their kids grasping math or science.  Some fret over their little angel?s reading abilities.  I, on the other hand, was frightened this morning by how beautiful my oldest daughter is.

It?s Becky?s fault.  She has a theory about beautiful people that I believe is true even if it is judgmental.  Let?s call it the Judgmental Theory About Beautiful People.

Here it is: The prettier you are growing up, the less personality and general likability you have as an adult.  This, Becky reasons, might be because while we normal-to-ugly looking kids had to develop actual personalities as young?ns in order to gain the acceptance of our peers, the beautiful people just had to show up and be, well, beautiful.  This is because all kids are shallow.  We naturally worship the beautiful kids. Especially if we?re not beautiful kids. Sorry, beautiful-kids-who-are-now-uninteresting-adults.  Sorry we liked you so much.*

Since 2000, America has changed in small ways, in big ways, and in ways that seem innocent enough now but no doubt herald some radical disruptions to come. Many more people are poor, uninsured, and in prison. Many more are billionaires. The burden of health-care costs has grown heavier, and so have we. We charge more, save less, and play a lot more video games. Even the things that haven?t changed much?like the amount of oil we consume, or the price of cocaine, or the size of our military?reflect not so much stasis as unsustainable trajectories. For Obama, responding to these problems will require breaking deep national addictions?to oil, to etherealized finance, to profligacy of all kinds?and, somehow, easing the tremens along the way. Perhaps, in doing so, he should heed a warning Roosevelt issued on the campaign trail: ?Without leadership alert and sensitive to change,? he said, ?we are bogged up or lose our way.?

Starlings spectacular show

A flight of 20,000 starlings has been performing a spectacular aerial display at a Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire.

Eyewitness Testimony Takes a Few More Hits

Earth and Mars may have Similar Forms of Life

In the Earths past there was powerful volcanic activity which could have easily spewed dirt containing microbes into outer space which eventually could have reached Mars. A Newsweek article of September 21, 1998, p.12 mentions exactly this possibility.

"We think theres about 7 million tons of earth soil sitting on Mars", says (evolutionist) Kenneth Nealson. "You have to consider the possibility that if we find life on Mars, it could have come from the Earth" [Weingarten, T., Newsweek, September 21, 1998, p.12]. Furthermore, MIT scientist Dr. Walt Brown (a creationist) in his book In The Beginning points out that during the great Genesis flood, as recorded in the Bible, the fountains of the deep that were let loose could have easily spewed out meteors and meteorites into space that very well may have contained micro-organisms such as bacteria.

Life on the Ring of Fire: Earthquake in Seattle, volcano set to blow in Alaska

Criminals steal three wagons loaded with toilet paper

Unidentified criminals dressed in the police uniform stole three wagons loaded with toilet paper. According to information received from the police department of St.Petersburg, three truck drivers addressed to the police and reported larceny. The three men said that unidentified men, dressed as policemen, stopped their trucks for a document check. The trucks loaded with toilet paper were traveling to Moscow. 

When the drivers stopped their vehicles and presented the documents to the ?policemen,? a group of camouflaged men approached them and told the drivers to get in their car. The criminals took the truck drivers away from the scene in an unknown direction. They were disembarked from the car in the woods in a suburban town on the outskirts of St.Petersburg, Interfax reports.

Creative Billboards That Makes You Look Twice

Personal training: annoying facts about being personal trainer

The emphasis on personal training should come from the personal trainers understanding of what works best for their client and an understanding of human movement. Some people think that it is a prestigious job, but actually there is nothin funny about it.

1. When a client pulls at a microscopic piece of flab on her thigh and asks, "What exercise can I do to get rid of this one little squidge right here?"

2. People who come to the gym with really, really offensive BO or extreme perfume.

3. Guys who pick a bench and sit and read the newspaper for twenty minutes.

4. "You know, Im in really good shape even though I havent been to the gym in over two years."

5. People who sing along to their Walkman.

6. People who think theyre cool because they sweat a lot.

7. Guys who get all territorial about machines.

Totally Weird Plants Around The World

2 - Amorphophallus

3 - Rafflesia arnoldii

4 - Welwitschia mirabilis

5 - Hydnora africana

Listen Now [4 min 3 sec] add to playlist

Nevadas Lake Mead had a white bathtub ring upstream from the Hoover Dam in July 2007. A seven-year drought and increased water demand spurred by climate change and explosive population growth in the Southwest has caused the water level at Lake Mead, which supplies water to Las Vegas, Arizona and Southern California, to drop more than 100 feet to its lowest level since the 1960s. Getty Images

All Things Considered, January 26, 2009 · Climate change is essentially irreversible, according to a sobering new scientific study.

As carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the world will experience more and more long-term environmental disruption. The damage will persist even when, and if, emissions are brought under control, says study author Susan Solomon, who is among the worlds top climate scientists.

But despite this grim prognosis, Solomon says this is not time to declare the problem hopeless and give up.

Bumps in the Road: Obamas HHS Secretary Nominee Faces Tax Questions Over Car and Driver

ABC News has learned that the nomination of former Senator Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., to be President Obamas secretary of health and human services has hit a traffic snarl on its way through the Senate Finance Committee.

The controversy deals with a car and driver lent to Daschle by a wealthy Democratic friend -- a chauffeur service the former senator used for years without declaring it on his taxes.

It remains an open question as to whether this is a "speed bump," as a Democratic Senate ally of Daschle put it, or something more damaging.

Mystical power

Why Sufi Muslims, for centuries the most ferocious soldiers of Islam, could be our most valuable allies in the fight against extremism

I don?t know what the rules are elsewhere in the world, but here in Australia, fines apply if you are caught flicking a cigarette butt on the ground. Which makes these stylish pocket ashtrays a handy must-have for smokers on the go.

When mobile ashtrays first hit the shelves here, they showed very little design effort, and most were branded with environmental protection logos that were clearly designed to guilt smokers into purchasing one.

This collection of colorful pocket ashtrays is a refreshing change from the dull options that preceded them.

Beautiful Bodies: Pin-Up Artist Jennifer Janesko?s Sexy Guitars

Musicians have been making connections between the guitar and female form for decades, some even decorating the faces of their instruments with colorful images of women. Indeed, Sex Pistol Steve Jones turned his trademark white Les Paul Custom into a punk rock icon simply by applying a decal of a vintage pin-up model near the bridge.

Now artist Jennifer Janesko has taken the concept to a whole new level, using the entire guitar face itself as a virtual canvas for her striking female images. A renowned pin-up artist for over 15 years, Janesko has teamed up with Maplewood, NJ-based custom shop GZ Guitars to offer a series of uniquely painted instruments ? including several classic Gibson models ? featuring her alluring airbrushed artwork.

Opponents of the English-only proposal celebrate Thursday at the Nashville for All of Us gathering at Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville. JAE S. LEE / THE TENNESSEAN

Shoe monument for man who threw footwear at Bush

TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - An Iraqi town has unveiled a giant monument of a shoe in honor of the journalist who threw his footwear at former U.S. President George W. Bush.

The two-meter (six-foot) high statue, unveiled on Thursday in former dictator Saddam Husseins home town of Tikrit, depicts a bronze-colored shoe, filled with a plastic shrub. "Muntazer: fasting until the sword breaks its fast with blood; silent until our mouths speak the truth," reads an inscription, in honor of journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who hurled his shoes at Bush and called him a "dog" at a news conference during the former presidents final visit to Iraq.

Zaidi has been held in jail in Baghdad since the incident, facing charges of assaulting a visiting head of state.

Fatin Abdul Qader, head of an orphanage and childrens organization in the town, said the one-and-a-half-tonne monument by artist Laith al-Amiri was titled "statue of glory and generosity."

The pinnacle of Thains tone deafness, of course, was his over-the-top makeover of his office in early 2008, just as Merrill Lynch was already hemorrhaging money and preparing to lay off thousands of workers. So to soften the blow (on himself), he spent $1.2 million redecorating. Lowlights include $87,000 for an area rug, and $1,400 for a trashcan.

Martin Fisher. © Lemelson-MIT ProgramThe water pumps and other products bought from Fishers company KickStart generate over $80 million of extra income each year for farmers in some of the poorest countries of the world. More than 350,000 people have moved out of poverty thanks to the products theyve bought from KickStart.

Goodness Gracious Me writer dies

Mr Sardana helped create popular television programmes Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42.

Actors Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar, who worked with him on both shows said they were "broken-hearted".

Mr Sardana died at Whipps Cross University Hospital in London on Tuesday. It is believed he had contracted a streptococcal virus.

Syal and Bhaskar said they were "stunned and completely broken hearted about Sharats death".

They said: "He was not just a gifted writer and a long-standing colleague and friend.

"We were part of each others extended families and losing him feels like losing a brother.

"There is so much he should have and could have done, though were grateful and so very proud of what he achieved in his all-too-brief life."

"Sharat was always very witty. He was able to take family jokes and make them work with a wide audience," she said.

The Serious Need for Play

Free, imaginative play is crucial for normal social, emotional and cognitive development. It makes us better adjusted, smarter and less stressed

One study found that kids who played with blocks scored higher on language tests than kids who had no blocks. Perhaps the children with blocks simply spent less time on unproductive activities such as watching TV--but the end result was good for them in any case.
JUPITERIMAGES

Key Concepts

Creative Mirror Designs

Building a Portrait of a Lie in the Brain

In search of a better lie detector, scientists are peering into the brain to probe the origins of deception

I am MLH, and I first met the Pilgrim (I promised him, no names!) about five years ago, and from the first I was captivated. The details aren?t important, perhaps I will tell it some time, but not now. My back was to him when he slipped into the room, and I felt ? well, I?m not sure what. Electricity? It as like the air was suddenly charged, a change in the emotional climate, perhaps. Anyway, I turned and he was there.

It wasn?t a romantic or sexual zing, I?ve lived long enough to know what that feels like! This was something else entirely, and the closest I can come to it was when I found myself one day in the comforting silence of a very old and very spiritually charged cathedral.

For all his spiritual interests, he seems totally oblivious to the world of the Internet I inhabit way, way too much of the time, so I took on the task of trying to gather up his ideas and put them out in the ether. The result is the blog you?re reading.

Gone in 1 second: Miller High Lifes planned Super Bowl ad

Miller High Life is doing an end run around Bud Light on Sunday with Fort Worth native Windell Middlebrooks starring in what could be Americas shortest TV commercial ever televised.

Blocked by Budweisers exclusive deal with Super Bowl XLIII, MillerCoors is buying up airtime in one-second increments on local NBC affiliates carrying the game, said Julian Green, a MillerCoors spokesman.

It follows through on a spot last year of Middlebrooks critiquing Super Bowl ads in his increasingly famous role as a Miller delivery guy with little patience for phonies and snobs.

Green wont say exactly how much MillerCoors is paying to round up roughly 70 percent of the viewing audience market by market, allowing only that it?s far less than the $3 million Bud is paying for each of its nine 30-second spots.

That works out to $100,000 a second for Budweiser, now owned by the Brazilian-Belgian giant, Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Stem Cell Research: The Quest Resumes

Scientific inspiration can come from anywhere ? a person, an event, even an experiment gone awry. But perhaps nothing can drive innovation more powerfully than the passion born of tragedy. Or, in Douglas Meltons case, near tragedy. The co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) is one of the leading figures in the search for cures for presently incurable diseases, and his breakthrough work is challenging many long-held beliefs about the ways biology and human development work.

Reader Steve T. sent in some awesome papercraft from JAMSTEC, the Japanese Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. You can print out a paper from a .pdf file. Don?t be dismayed by the japanese text everywhere, dotted lines tell you where to make the cuts. Below is the giant isopod (click on green rectangle under papercraft to download .pdf file), but there is also the dumbo octopus, vent crab and several fishes. Or, make a drilling ship, submersible or research buoy!

Reading Bridget Jones could improve your love life, new study shows

The Serious Need for Play

?We have a bunch of idiots on Wall Street that are kicking sand in the face of the American taxpayer? by taking multimillion-dollar bonuses, McCaskill said.

Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, yesterday introduced legislation to restrict compensation at companies receiving bail-out money to $400,000, the equivalent of the U.S. president?s salary.

?It?s very hard for the American people to understand how a bank executive should get a multimillion dollar bonus at a time when he?s asking the government to essentially bail out his institution,? Axelrod said.

Malaysian archeologists have unearthed prehistoric stone axes that they said on Friday were the worlds oldest at about 1.8 million years old.

The group released their conclusions on Thursday, and other archeologists have not yet examined the results.

"Its really the first time we have such evidence (dating back) 1.83 million years," Mokhtar said, adding that the oldest axes previously discovered were 1.6 million years old in Africa.

However, other chopping tools, as well as human remains, have been found in Africa that are much older, with some dating back 4 million years, he said.

Bush Hatred and Obama Euphoria Are Two Sides of the Same Coin

By PETER BERKOWITZ

In fact, Bush hatred and Obama euphoria -- which tend to reveal more about those who feel them than the men at which they are directed -- are opposite sides of the same coin. Both represent the triumph of passion over reason. Both are intolerant of dissent. Those wallowing in Bush hatred and those reveling in Obama euphoria frequently regard those who do not share their passion as contemptible and beyond the reach of civilized discussion. Bush hatred and Obama euphoria typically coexist in the same soul. And it is disproportionately members of the intellectual and political class in whose souls they flourish.

To be sure, democratic debate has always been a messy affair in which passion threatens to overwhelm reason. So long as citizens remain free and endowed with a diversity of interests and talents, it will remain so.

Red Ruby Rose is an exciting Etsy shop run by a very talented artist that transforms her own photographic images into cool clutch purses.

The UK-based ?Rose? takes her digital photos, prints the art on fabric and integrates the material into these chic handbags. Each purse?s outer shell is padded with layers of batting and the inner is lined with silk.

The clutches are all available on her Etsy shop for about $75 - $105.

Sure..

1. It was established on the basis of unjust principles as a result of the malicious colonial will imposed on a people.

2. Was established with the help of terrorism (see below).

3. It sustains itself on the basis of terrorism.

4. It can only survuve if it ethnically cleanse its native inhabitants, and ethnic cleansing is its official policy now.

5. It cannot survive without having an apartheid system in place.

6. It has dispalced and dispossessed millions and butchers thousands on annual basis.

Sure, Pakistan is a migraine, because

1. the US provides is $6.8 million per day.

2. It has imprisoned 10,756 people from the land it has occupied.

Doorways and room corners need never be boring again thanks to Eigengold ?In-Door Frames.? The intricately cut, colored Plexiglas panels fit snugly into any 90 degree corner.

The sections can be used to jazz up a dull closet door frame, highlight a differentiation between two rooms or even decorate an uninspiring bookcase.

Each Eigengold ?indoorframe? measures 38x54cm and are available from the Design 300 shop for 89? a panel.

Here?s a why-didn?t-I-think-of-that? design, the Corner picture frames.

They?re designed for accessorizing the inside or outside corners of a wall and come in beech black or natural maple.

At $400 bucks a frame, I REALLY wish I would have thought of that before the product designer, Yvonne Schroeder did. They are about 13 inches high so don?t worry about them getting lost if used in an interior corner.

Purchased with the assistance of Tony and Carol Berg 2003. © Ron Mueck

Men Are the New Old Maids

(Newser) ? Forget single women?men are the real hopeless romantics, writes Liz Hoggard in the UKs Evening Standard. "Trust me, men are the new spinsters," she says. "They dream of being married to The One," but that "one" must be a mother, a wife, and a handy helper. Single men of a certain age are so picky, they end up alone every night. And the notion that they have overcharged libidos? Please.

But men "want to be truly loved," one of Hoggards male friends told her recently. Theyre turned off by the idea of casual sex. "Men want poetry and the meeting of true minds," Hoggard writes. And though her mom would be appalled, that has Hoggard and her girlfriends longing for the good old days when men "just wanted one thing."
Source: Evening Standard (UK)

With the nanny state in full force, these images are a refreshing reminder than not everyone is safety conscious - in fact, many are far from it. I can?t image any of these solutions would ever be seen in the UK, which is a pity because some of them are really, really funny.

You may call these people idiots, but some of the solutions are in fact very ingenious, such as the plank balancing, or the double fork lift action.

Energy [R]evolution

Our Energy [R]evolution outlines a global plan for a sustainable renewable economic future. It shows us how we can get from where we are now, to where we need to be to avoid a climate change disaster. It was developed with specialists from the Institute of Technical Thermodynamics at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and more than 30 scientists and engineers from universities, institutes and the renewable energy industry around the world.

YOU CAN BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION.  TAKE ACTION AND GET INVOLVED.

Step 1: Electrical efficiency

? Exploit all technical potential for electrical efficiency
via technical standards

Step 2: Structural changes

There?s nothing like the feeling of fresh cut grass under the toes, especially when stepping out of the shower. This Moss Carpet by Nguyen La Chanh brings the outside indoors in an unconventionally natural way by placing it underfoot. The lush green lawn thrives in humid environments, which makes your bathroom a perfect place to grow.

President Barack Obama and his economic team are being careful to couch all their talk about economic stimulus programs and bank bailout programs in warnings that the economic downturn is serious and that it will take considerable time to bounce back.

Obviously the Obama administration recognizes that it needs to keep the finger of blame for the current economic collapse squarely pointed at the Bush administration, which is certainly fair in large part (though the Clinton deregulation of the banking industry played a major part in the financial crisis and its enthusiastic promotion of globalization began the massive shift of jobs overseas that has left the nations productive capacity hollowed out). But it also seems to recognize that it cannot tell the bitter truth, which is that our national economy will never "bounce back" to where it was in 2007.

Obama: $18B In Wall Street Bonuses "Shameful"

President Barack Obama responded Thursday to a front page story in the New York Times which reported that Wall Street handed out $18.4 billion in bonuses for the year, calling the payments "outrageous"

From the AP:

"Outrageous."

Thats President Barack Obamas one-word reaction to a report that Wall Street employees got more than $18 billion in bonuses last year.[...]

Said Obama: "That is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful."

The president said he and new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will have direct conversations with corporate leaders to make the point.

Obama said there is a time for corporate leaders to make profits and get paid bonuses but now is "not that time."

BAILOUTS MAKING MONKEYS OUT OF US ALL

DeMint criticized the mainstream media for not conveying the message that some congressional Republicans are trying to spread about this package ?that it?s filled with big-government wasteful spending projects that will do little to ?stimulate? the economy.

As anyone whos shared a house with a teenage girl and a telephone will know, they certainly like to talk.

But too much chatting with their friends can make girls prone to anxiety and depression, a study has found.

But excessive discussion  -  known to the experts as co-rumination  -  can be unhelpful.

There is a wealth of communication technology available to teens today that allows them to talk over and over again about the same emotional difficulties, said Dr Joanne Davila, the psychology professor who led the research.

Texting, instant messaging and social networking make it very easy for adolescents to become even more anxious, which can lead to depression.

Dr Davila and her colleague Lisa Starr, at Stony Brook University in New York, interviewed 83 girls aged around 13  -  the age when their risk of depression starts to increase.

The Beatles performed ?Get Back? (along with other songs from the album) as part of the ?Beatles Rooftop Performance? which took place on the roof of Apple Studios in Savile Row, London on January 30, 1969. ?Get Back? was performed in full three times; on the third and final time, The Beatles? performance was interrupted by the police, who had received complaints from office workers nearby. After the police spoke to Mal Evans, he turned off Lennon and Harrison?s amplifiers only for Harrison to switch them back on, insisting that they finish the song. It was during this period that McCartney ad-libbed, ?You?ve been playing on the roofs again, and that?s no good, and you know your Mummy doesn?t like that?she gets angry?she?s gonna have you arrested! Get back!? None of the rooftop versions appear on record in their entirety although in the Let It Be film an edited version of the rooftop performance was included, and is available on Anthology 3.

Angela Suleman said her daughter always had trouble conceiving and underwent in vitro fertilization treatments because her fallopian tubes are "plugged up."

"She told me that all of her kids were through in vitro, and I said Gosh, how can you afford that and go to school at the same time?" she added. "And she said its because she got paid for it."

Garcia said she did not ask for details.

Her fertility doctor has not been identified. Her mother told the Los Angeles Times all the children came from the same sperm donor but she declined to identify him.

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Best Career for Your Zodiac Sign

The mere monitoring of bloody conflict assumes precedence over human suffering

I wonder if we are "normalising" war. Its not just that Israel has yet again got away with the killing of hundreds of children in Gaza.

And after its own foreign minister said that Israels army had been allowed to "go wild" there, it seems to bear out my own contention that the Israeli "Defence Force" is as much a rabble as all the other armies in the region. But we seem to have lost the sense of immorality that should accompany conflict and violence. The BBCs refusal to handle an advertisement for Palestinian aid was highly instructive. It was the BBCs "impartiality" that might be called into question. In other words, the protection of an institution was more important than the lives of children. War was a spectator sport whose careful monitoring ? rather like a football match, even though the Middle East is a bloody tragedy ? assumed precedence over human suffering.

When Google yesterday launched a system for accessing Gmail without a Net connection, they promised it would act almost exactly like regular Gmail. From my early testing, it seems like that claim isnt entirely true -- in some ways, offline Gmail actually works better than the online version.

The main difference is speed. Regular Gmail is generally fairly quick, but you can still find yourself waiting at times for it to check in with Googles servers. In offline mode or the very cool Flaky Connection Mode, everything -- opening messages, searching for information, labeling missives -- happens almost instantly, since all the data is local.

No State has ever filed bankruptcy, but it could be coming to a State near you this year.

Daschle made $5m; health groups paid $220k

By Steve Connor, Science editor
Saturday, 31 January 2009

He has romped with gorillas, turned his back on grizzly bears and found himself knee-deep in suffocating bat dung. After decades of getting to know the furthest-flung corners of the world ? and its inhabitants ? Sir David Attenborough has vented his ire on the Bible for promoting the belief that man has complete dominion over the Earth.

Sir David, probably the best-loved broadcaster and certainly the most distinguished television naturalist, has blamed the Book of Genesis for many environmental problems, from the burning down of tropical rainforests to the extinction of species.

On the eve of a BBC1 documentary on the life of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution, Sir David has criticised the centuries-old idea running through the Judaeo-Christian tradition which assumes God gave the Earth to man to exploit and use in whatever way he saw fit in order to populate the world.

Shocking new figures show that violence among Britains young children has reached unprecedented levels ? with thousands of under-11s being suspended from school each year. Clare Dwyer Hogg talks to the parents, teachers and social workers at the front line

By the age of 10, James was so physically aggressive to adults and children that his parents couldnt cope with his level of violence. If he was told he couldnt do something, he would hit and kick them. Or he would destroy his bedroom, throwing and smashing whatever came to hand. Hed been like that since the age of four. His parents, who had learning difficulties, did what they could, but found it hard to be consistent. James is now in a residential school, away from his family.

Alcoholism in Women

By Linda Cooper on January 31st, 2009

Genes to be blamed for alcoholism among women

Symptoms of alcoholism in women a preliminary survey of AA members

Rosa Parks hated the ways of her life. She had always dreamed of having freedom in her life. As she grew up, she went through different experiences that gave her courage and strength.

The man in his 80s discovered the theft in October and died two months later. As he left no records, it took time for investigators to piece together the details.

The man, who was still serving on a corporate board when he died, had put cash into a container over four decades, repeatedly digging it up and then placing it back in the ground in his yard in southern Saga prefecture.

"He noticed that there are signs that parts of his yard were dug up. Then he learned that the container in which he kept the money was gone," a local police official said.

Police were searching for the culprit behind the theft of the cash, estimated at 360 million yen (2.8 million pounds).

"He buried the money because financial institutions are offering only low interest rates, and he thought it was better to keep his cash himself," the official said.

The fault lines beneath the debate over gay rights are jagged and deep. Federal Social Security and tax benefits from marriage that straight people take for granted are denied to most gays in committed relationships. And because Congress has failed to enact a federal employment nondiscrimination act, bias against gays in the workplace remains a constant threat.

The economy shrank at an accelerating pace late last year, the government reported on Friday, adding to the urgency of a stimulus package capable of bringing the country back from a recession that appears to be deepening.

Virtually none dispute that the usual route to recovery, cheap credit, has failed to work this time ? not when lenders are pulling back, despite prodding from the Federal Reserve, and borrowers are focused more on paying down debt and building up savings.

Defense Department Announces Civilian Expeditionary Workforce

The Defense Department has established a "civilian expeditionary workforce" that will see American civilians trained and equipped to deploy overseas in support of worldwide military missions.

The move is seen by some as an initial step towards fulfilling president Obama?s promise to form a civilian national security force as powerful as the U.S. military.

The intent of the program ?is to maximize the use of the civilian workforce to allow military personnel to be fully utilized for operational requirements,? according to a Defense Department report.

Obama Is a Two-Faced Liar. Aw-RIGHT!

    Republicans are right. President Barack Obama treated them like dirt, didnt give a damn what they thought about his stimulus package, loaded it with a bunch of programs that will last for years and will never leave the budget, is giving away money disguised as "tax refunds," and is sneaking in huge changes in policy, from schools to health care, using the pretext of an economic emergency.

    Way to go, Mr. O! Mr. Down-and-Dirty Chicago pol. Street-fightin man. Covering over his break-your-face power play with a "were all post-partisan friends" BS.

    And its about time.

    Frankly, I was worried about this guy. Obamas appointing Clinton-droids to the Cabinet, bloated incompetents like Larry Summers as "Economics Czar," made me fear for my country, that wed gotten another Democrat who wished he were a Republican.

Humans ?will be implanted with microchips?

All Australians could be implanted with microchips for tracking and identification within the next two or three generations, a prominent academic says.

Microchips are commonly implanted into animals to reveal identification details when scanned and similar devices have been used with Alzheimers patients.

US company VeriChip is already using implantable microchips, which store a 16-digit unique identification number, on humans for medical purposes.

?Our focus is on high-risk patients, and our product?s ability to identify them and their medical records in an emergency,? spokesperson Allison Tomek said.

A bishop who denies that Jews were killed in Nazi gas chambers apologized Friday that his remarks caused "distress" for the pope.

"Amidst this tremendous media storm stirred up by imprudent remarks of mine on Swedish television, I beg of you to accept, only as is properly respectful, my sincere regrets for having caused to yourself and to the Holy Father so much unnecessary distress and problems," Williamson wrote to Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos.

He added that he has "only one comment, from the prophet Jonas, 1:12: Take me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you."

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi called Williamsons Holocaust remarks "absolutely indefensible."

He said the Vaticans decision to accept Williamson was part of its desire to normalize relations with the ultra-conservative group, and had nothing to do with the bishops personal views.

Mount Elbrus casts hazy shadow

At dawn Mount Elbrus casts its shadow on the morning haze.

Mount Elbrus is a mountain located in the western Caucasus mountain range, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia, near the border of Georgia, in the northern Iranian plateau. A stratovolcano that has lain dormant for about 2,000 years, it is the highest mountain in the Caucasus. Mt. Elbrus (west summit) stands at 5,642 metres (18,510 ft) and it is the highest mountain in Europe; it is also the highest point of Russia. The east summit is slightly lower: 5,621 metres (18,442 ft).
Source: Wikipedia.org

Photos via Dirty.Ru

Worlds fastest electric car with top speed of 208mph launched

It is powered by a twin motor system, which produces a staggering 1,000 horse power and 800lb-ft of torque.

The eco-vehicle created by Shelby Supercars can accelerate to 60mph in just 2.5 seconds.

In contrast the current electric sports car flagbearer, the Tesla Roadster which was recently tested by Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear, produces 250 horse power.

Impressive: The Ultimate Aero EV will prove that electric-powered vehicles will not only match but outperform internal combustion cars, the makers claim

A Shelby Supercars spokesman said: Having the worlds fastest production car we decided the Ultimate Aero to be the perfect high visibility outlet to demonstrate our new green powertrain.

The richest bride of all Russia

21-year-old daughter of the Russian businessman Vasiliy Anisimov was labeled one of the hundred most prosperous young women of the planet by the ?Forbes? magazine. So far nothing was heard of ?Anechka? in her homeland Russia. But she has become quite famous among the inhabitants of the United Sates. She is known as the social lioness of Manhattan and the newspapers of New York consider her to be a symbol of the ?New Russians?? expansion in the US.

Anya came to the US in 1991 as a six-year-old girl. Her father Anisimov used to specialize in aluminum sales. The rivaling parties back in those days solved the problems of competition by shooting each other, and so the caring businessman sent his family overseas.

Shocking dresses of Russian stars