Today's Hot Trends

Japan 8.9-Magnitude Earthquake Live Video

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:17:00 +0000

An 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan on Friday, triggering tsunamis and sending a massive body of water filled with debris that included boats and houses inching toward highways.

The epicenter was 373 kilometers (231 miles) away from the capital, Tokyo, the United States Geological Survey said. But residents there felt the tremors.

Japan 8.9-Magnitude Earthquake Live Video

The quake rattled buildings and toppled cars off bridges and into waters underneath. Waves of debris flowed like lava across farmland, pushing boats, houses and trailers toward highways.

In Tokyo, crowds gathered in the streets and tried to reach relatives via cell phone.

Scenes inside office buildings showed papers strewn all over the floor and people clinging onto seats and desks.

Japan 8.9-Magnitude Earthquake Live Video

Such a large earthquake at such a shallow depth creates a lot of energy, said Shenza Chen of the U.S. Geological Survey.

It caused a power outage in about 4 million homes in Tokyo and surrounding areas.

A tsunami in the Pacific was moving closer to other shorelines in other countries, said CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera.

Japan 8.9-Magnitude Earthquake Live Video

It triggered tsunami warnings for various countries, including Japan and Russia, the National Weather Service said.

“Earthquakes of this size are known to generate tsunamis potentially dangerous to coasts outside the source region,” it said.

“Based on all available data a tsunami may have been generated by this earthquake that could be destructive on coastal areas even far from the epicenter.”

Japan 8.9-Magnitude Earthquake Live Video

The quake was the latest in a series in the region this week.

Early Thursday, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 struck off the coast of Honshu.

A day earlier, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck off of Honshu, the country’s meteorological agency said.

The largest recorded quake took place in Chile on May 22, 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5, the USGS said.

Click here to view:

Japan 8.9-Magnitude Earthquake Live Video

Live video 2

Twitter Traffic Machine - The Automated Growth & Money Making System

WikiLeaks is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:45:00 +0000

Known for leaking classified information that must reach the public eye, the WikiLeaks site was nominated today for the Nobel Peace Prize. According to the nominator, who curiously chose to quote the site as a candidate instead of its founder Julian Assange the WikiLeaks was chosen to have an important role in the freedom of expression in today’s society, and have helped bring down corrupt governments like Tunisia .

The site was named by Snorre Valen Norwegian politician, member of the Socialist Party of the Left. Despite the judging committee of the Organization Nobel advise against disclosure of names of potential candidates prizes, there is no specific rule about it. The official announcement of the winners usually happens in early October.

If the prize winner, the first will be the WikiLeaks site in the world to receive this honor, who was previously restricted to fixed-based organizations and individuals with outstanding work. The name of the site for information leakage world’s most famous will then appear alongside Americans like Jimmy Carter, Al Gore and Barack Obama and organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross, among dozens more.

Twitter Traffic Machine - The Automated Growth & Money Making System

'Virtual world' China's 'next battleground'

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:01:00 +0000

China's wary government is a world champion in internet censorship, but Communist Party leaders now want to master the trickier feat of actively shaping online opinion.

The results so far don't match the zap and crackle of China's young, who have embraced microblogs as their latest tool for spreading information and opinions that can make Party officials see red.

But there's no mistaking the Party's determination to reach China's 450 million Internet users.

President Hu Jintao recently called the "virtual world" his next battleground, and the nation's Party-run parliament, now in session, has brought talk about how to win over or control the country's microbloggers.

Hu recently called for fresh ways to "guide online public opinion," amid online calls for Chinese people to emulate the "Jasmine Revolution" sweeping the Middle East.

"This is all part of the longer trend in more interactive governance," said David Bandurski, a researcher at the China Media Project at the University of Hong Kong.

"To what degree this is genuine and impacts citizens positively, that's an open debate."

For now, Chinese officials' efforts to connect online appear to be more patronizing and fusty than feisty.

"Recently, a woman from a minority ethnic group wrote to me, saying 'over the past year, we local residents have gradually felt the warmth of unity and love'," wrote the party chief of Xinjiang, Zhang Chunxian, on his first microblog message on QQ, a Chinese social networking website, last Wednesday.

Zhang - the highest known Party official to join microblogging according to Xinhua news agency - became party chief of China's far-western region of Xinjiang last April, about nine months after bloody ethnic riots in the province prompted authorities to shut down cellphone and Internet services.

Zhang, who has gained more than 148,000 followers on his microblog, said it can "be used to promote the government's efforts in Xinjiang's development," he told the state-owned China Daily.

It is not easy to gauge how effective the government's online propaganda strategy is because dissenting comments are usually quickly censored. However, one user, called Yangyang, shot back at the effusive Xinjiang party chief: "I don't think everything is as rosy."

Many of the nearly 3,000 legislative delegates meeting in the cavernous Great Hall of the People have posted messages on their microblogs praising Wen's annual State of the Union-style report.

"The prime minister reported that under the 11th Five-Year Plan, the country has undergone historic changes, people's living standards have improved significantly, the country's international status and influence have also improved," wrote ANTA Sports Products chairman Ding Shizhong, a delegate.
Ad Feedback Click here to find out more!

"For the next five years, people will definitely live happier and more dignified lives!"

The Chinese government allows censored Twitter-like microblogging services -- known as Weibo -- on domestic websites run by companies such as Sina, Sohu and Tencent.

More than 3,000 government organizations in China use Sina's microblogs, according to Sina spokesman Liu Qi. Experts say these numbers are expected to rise.

"The government, in many places, has not won the confidence of the public," said Hu Yong, a professor of Internet studies at Peking University. "In many instances, their image has a problem. So perhaps by using the Internet, the government believes it can change these things."

The move into microblogs suggests that the government sees the need for a more supple form of propaganda in the age of social media, said Bandurski.

"The microblogs are a way to reach out and on one hand appear to be open and flexible and add a degree of openness and credibility," he said.

Most Chinese critics of the government use virtual private networks to circumvent the Great Firewall to access Facebook and Twitter, both of which are blocked in China, which fears that they could allow the government's critics to organize.

A government that censors so readily could have a hard time selling its message.

"I think their noise is already too much," said Mao Yushi, one of China's most prominent economists and a critic of one-party control.

"Even without Weibo, the radio stations and People's Daily are still talking every day," said Mao, 82, who started using a microblog three months ago.

"What we need are different voices."

- Reuters

Twitter Traffic Machine - The Automated Growth & Money Making System

Keith Ellison's Testimony

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:55:00 +0000

Congressman Keith Ellison, the Minneapolis Democrat who in 2006 was the first Muslim elected to Congress, is a big part of the story at today's hearing on Muslim radicalization.

Ellison has testified at the hearing, which isn't uncommon for members of Congress to do: While lawmakers hardly comprise the bulk of the invited witnesses at congressional hearings, they do get invited to testify, and they do appear when they have a particularly relevant expertise or viewpoint.

In December, Ellison heard about King's plans to hold hearings on American Muslim radicalization by word of mouth, as word of King's intentions spread on Capitol Hill. Ellison approached King about the hearings, met with his Republican colleague, and told King he thought it was a bad idea to single out Muslims for examination. King invited Ellison to attend and testify, and today he appeared.

Ellison warned that such hearings could spread anti-Muslim sentiment, and said radicalized individuals do not represent the American Muslim community. Here's his full testimony as prepared:

Congressman Keith Ellison (MN-05)

Testimony Before The House Homeland Security Committee

The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response

March 10, 2011

Thank you Chairman King for allowing me to testify today. Though the Chairman and I sometimes disagree, including on the premise of this hearing, I appreciate his willingness to engage in this dialogue. I also thank Ranking Member Bennie Thompson for his commitment to homeland security and civil rights for all. It's a challenge to protect both security and liberty, but Congressman Thompson strikes the right balance.

I would like to introduce Talat Hamdani, who is with us today. She is the brave mother of Mohammed Salman Hamdani, a first responder who died trying to rescue fellow Americans on 9/11.

I will make three points today. First, violent extremism is a serious concern to all Americans, and is the legitimate business of this Committee. Second, this Committee's approach to violent extremism is contrary to American values, and threatens our security. Finally, we need increased understanding and engagement with Muslim American communities to keep America safe.

I want to elaborate on the first point.

Understanding the roots of domestic terrorism is the legitimate business of the House Homeland Security Committee. I share the Chairman's concerns about violent extremism. I voted for The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 authored by Representative Jane Harman. This bill is a common sense approach to studying violent extremism in the United States. I plan to introduce a companion bill in the future.

I recently made a presentation, sponsored by the Center for American Progress, called "Strengthening America's Security: Identifying, Preventing and Responding to Domestic Terrorism." My presentation addressed causes of violent extremism and solutions for prevention and intervention.

The safety of our families and communities is at stake in our discussion today. We should apply the utmost intellectual rigor to this issue--which leads to my second point. We need to conduct a thorough, fair analysis and do no harm. The approach of today's hearing, unfortunately, does not meet these standards.

Today's hearing is entitled, "The extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's response."

It is true that specific individuals, including some who are Muslims, are violent extremists. However, these are individuals - but not entire communities. Individuals like Anwar Al-Aulaqi, Faisel Shazad, and Nidal Hasan do not represent the Muslim American community. When their violent actions are associated with an entire community, then blame is assigned to a whole group. This is the very heart of stereotyping and scapegoating, which is counter-productive.

This point is at the heart of my testimony today. Ascribing the evil acts of a few individuals to an entire community is wrong; it is ineffective; and it risks making our country less secure.

Solutions to the scourge of domestic terrorism often emerge from individuals within the Muslim community--a point I address later in my testimony. However, demanding a "community response" (as the title of this hearing suggests) asserts that the entire community bears responsibility for the violent acts of individuals. Targeting the Muslim American community for the actions of a few is unjust. Actually all of us--all communities--are responsible for combating violent extremism. Singling out one community focuses our analysis in the wrong direction.

Throughout human history, individuals from all communities and faiths have used religion and political ideology to justify violence. Let's think about the KKK, America's oldest terrorist organization; the Oklahoma City bombing; the shooting at the Holocaust Museum by James von Brunn; and bombings at Planned Parenthood clinics. Did Congress focus on the ethnic group and religion of these agents of violence as a matter of public policy? The answer is no.

Stoking fears about entire groups for a political agenda is also not new in American history. During World War II the US government interned Japanese Americans and spied on German Americans. During John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign, his opponents portrayed a dire future for an America with a Catholic president. We now view these events of our past as a breach of our treasured American values.

Let's talk about facts rather than stereotypes. In fact, the Muslim American community rejects violent ideology. The RAND Corporation, a highly respected research organization, released a report last year that states the following:

given the low rate of would-be violent extremists [only 100 amongst an estimated 3 million American Muslims "...suggest[s] an American Muslim population that remains hostile to jihadist ideology and its exhortations to violence."

The RAND report concludes that a mistrust of Muslim Americans by other Americans is misplaced.

The Muslim American community across this country actively works with law enforcement officials--from dialogues with Attorney General Eric Holder to community meetings with local police officers in Minneapolis. Recently, tips from the Muslim American community foiled two domestic terror plots including the case of the Times Square Bomber and the Northern Virginia Five. Law enforcement officials depend upon these relationships.

A recent report from the Muslim Public Affairs Council stated that information provided by Muslim Americans has helped foil seven of the last 11 domestic terror plots and 40 percent of all plots since 9/11. A 2011 study from the Duke University Triangle Center on Terrorism reiterated that 40 percent of domestic terror plots have been prevented with the aid of the Muslim American community .

This cooperation with law enforcement is rooted in relationships and trust--relationships that we should nurture. A witness at today's hearing, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, testified before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee last year:

To effectively detect and manage extremists, police need to have the trust and understanding of the Muslim communities who live within and outside the United States... Simply, police need public participation.

Sheriff Baca recently commented on important cooperation between his office and the Muslim American community. He stated:

We have as much cooperation as we are capable of acquiring through public trust relationships [with the American Muslim community]. Muslim Americans in the county of Los Angeles have been overwhelmingly astounded by terrorist attacks--like everyone else--and overwhelmingly concerned about a non-repeat performance of that kind--and are willing to get involved and help.

As policy leaders, we need to be rigorous about our analysis of violent extremism. Our responsibility includes doing no harm. I am concerned that the focus of today's hearing may increase suspicion of the Muslim American community, ultimately making all of us less safe.

We have seen the consequences of anti-Muslim sentiment - from the backlash against the Park51 Muslim Community Center to the hostilities against an Islamic Center in Mursfreesboro, Tennessee, to the threatened Quran burning in Gainesville, Florida. Zoning boards in communities like Dupage County, Illinois are denying permits to build new mosques.

At the height of the Park51 controversy a man asked a cabbie whether he was Muslim. When the cabbie said, "As-Salaam Alekum", a common Muslim greeting that means "peace be unto you", the individual stabbed him. According to a recent report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, hate groups in the U.S. now number more than 1,000, an "all-time high," and the threat of domestic terrorism from elements of the radical right is very real and growing. These are only a few examples of the danger of a hateful climate that results when communities are stereotyped inaccurately.

Denis McDonough, the President's Deputy National Security Advisor, recently spoke at the ADAMS Center, the Dulles American Muslim Society. Mr. McDonough noted that al-Qaeda's core recruiting argument is that the West is at war with Islam. A chief goal of our national security policy is to undermine this argument. This requires active engagement with the Muslim American community at home and throughout the world. As President Obama said in his Cairo speech, "Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism--it is an important part of promoting peace".

This brings me to my third point. What should we be doing to address violent extremism and keep America safe?

The best defense against extremist ideologies is social inclusion and civic engagement. FBI Agent Ralph Boelter, head of the Minneapolis FBI, illustrates my point. He led a large scale probe into counterterrorism involving local Somali-Americans heading overseas to fight with a terrorist organization. He is now coming to D.C. to become the Agency's deputy assistant director in charge of counterterrorism.

Boelter's strategy: To fight extremism, the Agency needs to establish sincere relationships with the community. "We had to be able to show people they could trust me, trust us," Boelter said of the local community.

FBI Agent Boelter "showed a side to the FBI that people don't see," said Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan. "They needed that. They needed a little more to make their case. And it paid off because of the connections he made. People came forward. He became somebody that they were willing to go to."

Unfortunately, some leaders continue to misrepresent events in my own community of Minneapolis. For example, this week the Chairman was on the Morning Joe TV show and said, "how about the number of young Somali men who went to Somalia and the Imams and the leaders in the Minneapolis Muslim community refused to cooperate [with them] at all. They were denying for a long time that they even left."

This sweeping statement regarding the community I represent is simply not true. More importantly, why weren't these law enforcement officials invited to testify before this committee about effective counterterrorism through engagement with the Muslim American community?

In January, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties convened a youth summit with Somali-American youth and law enforcement agencies in Minneapolis. The event attracted over 100 people including the U.S. Attorney, three of Minneapolis' Somali-American police officers, myself, and several law enforcement and security agencies.

The meeting provided an opportunity for Somali youth groups to learn more about the various roles and responsibilities of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and discuss community issues and concerns with government representatives. Meeting participants discussed ways in which Somali youth and government entities can improve communication and build trust in a variety of ways, from convening regular youth summits to supporting and participating in youth sporting activities.

Muslim Americans have been a part of America since the nation's founding. A little known fact is that Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is home to the oldest mosque in America. The Muslim American community is just like the rest of us. Muslims serve our nation as doctors, lawyers, teachers, business owners, factory workers, cab drivers, law enforcement officers, professors, firefighters, and members of the armed forces. Muslim Americans live in every community in America--they are our neighbors. In short, they are us. (Americans)

Every American, including Muslim Americans, suffered on 9/11.

29 Muslims died at the World Trade Center;

3 Muslims died in the hijacked planes (United Flight 175 and American Flight 11).

Muslims stood with the rest of America united in grief, in their resolve to protect America. Along with Americans of all faiths, Muslim Americans rushed in to save and rescue victims of Al-Quaeda's terrorism.

Let me close with a story, but remember that it's only one of many American stories that could be told. Mohammed Salman Hamdani was a 23-year-old paramedic, a New York City police cadet and a Muslim American. He was one of those brave first responders who tragically lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attacks almost a decade ago. As The New York Times eulogized, "He wanted to be seen as an all-American kid. He wore No. 79 on the high school football team in Bayside, Queens, where he lived, and he was called Sal by his friends... He became a research assistant at Rockefeller University and drove an ambulance part-time. One Christmas, he sang in Handel's Messiah in Queens. He saw all the Star Wars movies, and it was well known that his new Honda was the one with "Yung Jedi" license plates.

Mr. Hamdani bravely sacrificed his life to try and help others on 9/11. After the tragedy some people tried to smear his character solely because of his Islamic faith. Some people spread false rumors and speculated that he was in league with the attackers only because he was Muslim. It was only when his remains were identified that these lies were fully exposed.

Mohammed Salman Hamdani was a fellow American who gave his life for other Americans. His life should not be defined as a member of an ethnic group or a member of a religion, but as an American who gave everything for his fellow citizens.

Mohammed Salman Hamdani is us. He is every American. He is our neighbor. If we make him the problem, we all lose. If we engage him in the solution, America and the world will be a more vibrant, safer place for us and our children.
Twitter Traffic Machine - The Automated Growth & Money Making System

Forbes rich list 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:49:00 +0000

or the third time in three years, the world has a new richest man.

Riding surging prices of his various telecom holdings, including giant mobile outfit America Movil ( AMX – news – people ), Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu has beaten out Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the wealthiest person on earth and nab the top spot on the 2010 Forbes list of the World’s Billionaires.

Slim’s fortune has swelled to an estimated $53.5 billion, up $18.5 billion in 12 months. Shares of America Movil, of which Slim owns a $23 billion stake, were up 35% in a year.

That massive hoard of scratch puts him ahead of Microsoft ( MSFT – news – people ) cofounder Bill Gates, who had held the title of world’s richest 14 of the past 15 years.

Gates, now worth $53 billion, is ranked second in the world. He is up $13 billion from a year ago as shares of Microsoft rose 50% in 12 months. Gates’ holdings in his personal investment vehicle Cascade ( CAE – news – people ) also soared with the rest of the markets.

Moscow leads the list with the most billionaires but the American’s, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, remain list leaders. Although the Microsoft man and American investor didn’t make it to number one, one of America’s neighbors did.

Back at the top is Mexican, Carlos Slim Helu. Currently, he holds a net worth of over $74 billion dollars. This will be Slim’s second year in a row as the richest person in the world. Slim is 71-years-old and chairman of Telmex.

He was always appearing on the Forbes rich list but his earnings shot up even more recently due to the rise in the Mexican stock market. Forbes stated that Slim also merged his telecom company with Latin America’s largest wireless carriers making even bigger earnings. Slim has other successful holdings including shares in Saks and New York Times among others.

The Mexican billionaire won’t have all the wealth to himself. Although he’s a widow, he has six children to share it with.

Behind him is Bill Gates of Microsoft with $56 billion. In third, Warren Buffet with $50 billion. In Fourth, Bernard Arnault with $41 billion. In Fifth, Larry Ellison with $39.5 billion.

Minolta Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:03:00 +0000

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

One of the things that I adulation about my new Dimage Minolta agenda camera is the abundance of Minolta camera accessories that are available.

Since purchasing my Minolta camera I’ve additionally bought some of the accessories for my new camera. Below I’m activity to accord my assessment on the Minolta camera accessories that I accept gotten, and I will appearance you area you’ll acquisition Minolta camera accessories with a abatement up to 49 percent off retail prices.

Lens Adapter for Konica Minolta Dimage:

This is a simple metal lens adaptor, it gets the assignment accomplished and it is aloof the appropriate lenght for the lens barrel, so it will not be noticed in any of your footage. This is a charge to enhance the images of your Z camera with filters.

Opetka HD2 Clarify Kit:

This Minolta camera accessories kit includes a abundant tiny case that food all of the filters. I begin the case helpful, but it isn’t absolutely the neatest affair for your filters if you appetite to accumulate them safe. I commonly accumulate the baby clarify case in my bigger camera bag with my lens captivated in tissue cardboard so I can be abiding that they are apple-pie back I use them.

The FL-D clarify isn’t aloof acceptable for beaming ablaze levels, but it additionally adds a bendable aftereffect to photos application any light. The Fluorecent clarify alike makes tungsten lighting attending bigger inside. If you are application this with a digital, you may appetite to white antithesis afore application this affectionate of filter.

The Ultra Violet clarify has a agnate aftereffect as any added Ultra Violet clarify and the polarizer does a admirable job in ablaze situations too.

Opteka 70″ Full Size pro photograph / Video Tripod:

There were a cardinal of tripods in the Minolta camera accessories band that I anticipation about afore accepting this one. What fabricated me get this tripod was how athletic it looked. On arrival, I was annoyed to say that the pictures of the artefact remained true. The tripod is athletic and can be adapted in a cardinal of means to adapt the acme and angles. The way the legs locks into abode makes it accessible to set the tripod up on broken ground. This is a behemothic plus, as I wasn’t absorbed in aloof application the tripod inside.Twitter Traffic Machine - The Automated Growth & Money Making System

Trading Hot Stocks

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:02:00 +0000

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

As an investor, I apperceive that the appropriate software can accomplish a aberration in my returns. I use a affairs in my trends afterward strategies that helps me adjudge which stocks to buy at what time and aback to sell. It’s not perfect, but it works best of the time. I accept done some trading in hot stocks with alloyed results. Aback I came beyond the Today’s Hot Stocks newsletter, I was skeptical.

There are so abounding variables complex with hot stocks trading, I didn’t see how a software affairs could accurately booty aggregate into account. I never accept aggregate I apprehend anyway. There are a lot of scammers accessible to booty your money and run. Given that the newsletter wasn’t expensive, I absitively to try out the newsletter for two months.

Since the armpit offered a sixty day money aback guarantee, I absitively to see if my acquaintance was right. That was three months ago and I accept to admit, I am impressed. Using the Today’s Hot Stocks newsletter and email alerts, has helped me accomplish acceptable allotment on my investments. Nothing’s absolute and I accept had a brace of duds, but I absolutely didn’t lose abundant aback I was able to get out quickly.

Investing in hot stocks is a chancy business and I’d never acclaim it as a distinct action for investing. That said, as allotment of an all-embracing advance strategy, hot stocks can be actual assisting if you accept your issues carefully. Today’s Hot Stocks newsletter and email alerts admonition you do aloof that. In addition, it is acute to apperceive aback to sell, and Today’s Hot Stocks takes abroad a lot of the guesswork. Intuition is great, but awfully capricious for best people.

Some association may not be blessed advantageous for admonition on stocks addition they are already advantageous their agent for that service. If you aren’t authoritative a 30% acknowledgment on your investments, maybe your broker’s admonition isn’t as acceptable as the admonition from Today’s Hot Stocks.

Since Today’s Hot Stocks offers a sixty day balloon with a money aback guarantee, it’s account trying. If it doesn’t assignment for you, you can consistently abolish and get a refund. I don’t anticipate you will though. I, personally, accept had a bigger than 35% acknowledgment on my investments aback signing up for hot stocks.

There are a lot of places, including your broker, area you can get admonition on hot stocks. Best of the time they got their advice from addition source, so the abstracts you’re accepting isn’t beginning and may accept absent article in the translation. The abstracts from Today’s Hot Stocks comes anon from them to you, so there is beneath adventitious of a miscommunication.

I’m still a appealing bourgeois investor, but I’m animated i added hot stocks to my strategy. The 37% acknowledgment I’ve fabricated over the las three months is absorbing and I plan to accumulate trading in this bazaar for the accountable future. Even if you’re bourgeois like me, I advance you try Today’s Hot Stocks newsletter and ascertain a new, advantageous advance strategy.Twitter Traffic Machine - The Automated Growth & Money Making System

Festival 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Today is last day of the Testicle Festival 2009. The festival has started on July 29th. It's in full effect and started on July 29th. Here are Testicle Festival 2009 videos. If you missed festival, you can watch videos here below.

Testicle Festival 2009 Olean Missouri, Producer Shawn Kober

2009 Testicle Festival

Twitter Traffic Machine - The Automated Growth & Money Making System

Asia Witness The Longest Solar Eclipse Of The Century

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:44:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

What has now come to be known as ‘the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century’ made its grand appearance in two of the biggest Asian countries, India and China. This incredible celestial phenomenon began its journey from India and started moving to Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam, China in the end covering many parts of the Pacific Rim. As per NASA estimates, the solar eclipse covered a distance of 250 km-wide (155 miles).
In the Indian holy state of Varanasi, people pf all sex and ages gathered around the Ganges river and prayed to the heavens. According to the Indian mythology, taking a dip in the holy river at the time of a solar eclipse makes a person free from the cycle of life and death.

This longest eclipse in of the century, wasn’t only a spectacle for the curious and the devotees, it was also an extremely rare chance for the scientific community to study the sun’s corona, that in regular conditions would be impossible to observe. According to Harish Bhatt (Dean, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore),

“This is indeed quite an important event for scientific experiments. Its long duration provides you an opportunity to make very complicated, complex experiments. Scientists in China planned to snap two-dimensional images of the sun’s corona — up to 2 million degrees Celsius (3.6 million F) hot — at roughly one image per second.“

Today’s solar eclipse was the longest in the 21st century, as it lasted maximum of 6 minutes, 39 seconds over the Pacific Ocean. The only other longer solar eclipse other than today’s will occur on June 13th, 2132.

Twitter Traffic Machine - The Automated Growth & Money Making System

Megan Fox and Shia Labeouf were in Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:24:00 +0000

Megan and Shia rised up with their first movie "Transformers". Megan Fox and Shia Labeouf have been doing press for their new movie "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". They were in Paris for a photocall. They posed for the paparazzi.
Twitter Traffic Machine - The Automated Growth & Money Making System

Game 3 Lakers vs. Magic

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:19:00 +0000

The Lakers and Magic meet up in Orlando tonight for Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Judging by the numerous angles focused on the concept of revenge, we should expect the Magic to climb back into the series in a lower scoring game. Take a look at some of these revenge trends as we preview the game, then head on over to the NBA GAME MATCHUP page for more key betting information.

Orlando is a 4-1/2 point favorite, but according to the Sportsbook.com Betting Trends, only 52% of bettors are leaning that way, a low percentage for this magnitude of a game.

By now everyone knows the Lakers have a 2-0 lead, but if the Magic’s botched layup/missed goaltending call at the end of regulation had been scored; this series would be tied 1-1. That is all the difference in the world according to history, as only three teams have ever come back from this deficit to win the NBA Finals, most recently the Miami Heat in 2006.

The “comfortable” lead has not changed Kobe Bryant’s focus however. Bryant has a promise for Game 3 on Tuesday night.

“We’re about to kick it up,” he said. “You’d better believe it. We’re close. You see what I’m saying? This is the finals. We’re going to be ready to go.”

Courtney Lee missed a wide-open, alley-oop layup that would have won Game 2 at the fourth-quarter buzzer Sunday night. It was another chapter in a long history of Magic misery, one that now has them 0-6 in finals games.

Orlando has been able to come back from seemingly every heartbreak this season - injuries, four last-second losses in the playoffs and series deficits in two rounds; but this could be too tough a challenge.

“We’ve just got to go home and take care of business,” Magic center Dwight Howard said. “The Lakers did a good job of protecting their home, and now it’s our turn to do the same thing. We’ve been in some tough situations. We’ve just got to fight our way out.”

The Magic would need quite a turnaround. Their backcourt has been dreadful. Rafer Alston and Jameer Nelson, who returned for the finals after being out since early February because of shoulder surgery, were so inconsistent that Van Gundy benched them for most of the fourth quarter to have 6-foot-10 forward Hedo Turkoglu run the point.

The Magic had 20 turnovers, just 22 assists and no true ball handler to make the Lakers pay for double-teaming Howard.

Don’t consider the series over yet however. One of the streakiest teams in the league all season, Orlando has shot well at home. It plays with a carefree attitude, and Bryant says that’s reason to be wary.

“This is a very loosey-goosey team we’re playing against,” he said. “You seen some of the shots they hit.Online Sports Betting at Sportsbook Those are tough shots - supposed to be tough shots. For them it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. They’re just thinking about Game 3, and so are we.”

As mentioned in the opening, one of the key handicapping concepts backing the Magic for Game 3 is REVENGE.

Orlando boasts several Top StatFox Power Trends focused on this motivation.

Including the Game 2 Magic ATS win and UNDER result, here are a few of the revenge angles that will be in play for Tuesday’s Game 3:

* ORLANDO is 33-11 ATS (+20.9 Units) avenging a same season loss vs. opponent over the last 2 seasons. The average score was ORLANDO 102.2, OPPONENT 93.9 - (Rating = 3*)

* ORLANDO is 13-3 ATS (+9.7 Units) avenging 2 straight losses where opponents scored 100 or more points over the last 3 seasons. The average score was ORLANDO 100.9, OPPONENT 100.5 - (Rating = 1*)

* ORLANDO is 28-13 ATS (+13.7 Units) avenging a road loss vs. opponent over the last 2 seasons. The average score was ORLANDO 101.6, OPPONENT 95.0 - (Rating = 1*)

The Lakers have been a solid bet as a road dog though. Over the last two seasons, they are 24-12 ATS in that role.

In terms of the total, revenge for Orlando may also play a role in taking this game UNDER the posted number of 198.

* ORLANDO is 26-15 UNDER (+9.5 Units) avenging a road loss vs. an opponent over the last 2 seasons. The average score was ORLANDO 101.6, OPPONENT 95.0 - (Rating = 1*)

Tip time is set for 9:00 PM ET on ABC.

Twitter Traffic Machine - The Automated Growth & Money Making System

Kim Kardashian does shopping with photographers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:17:00 +0000

I think to be a famous person is like this. Especially if somebody is so beautiful like Kim Kardashian photographers will be always around of her. Kim Kardashian and Brittny Gastineau go walk. Maybe they do some shopping in Beverly Hills. While they shopping at the trendy Harmony Lane boutique photographers walk up to Kim Kardashian. And they follow about her.

Here is video while Kim Kardashian shopping.
Twitter Traffic Machine - The Automated Growth & Money Making System

Tony Award 2009 Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:24:00 +0000

American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards which is presented by Tony Award Productions is over. It was announced the Winners on Sunday. Here is Tony Award 2009 winner list.
+ Best Play
God of Carnage
God of Carnage (Winner)
Author: Yasmina Reza

+ Best Musical
Billy Elliot, The Musical (Winner)

+ Best Book of a Musical
Billy Elliot, The Musical Lee Hall (Winner)

+ Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Next to Normal Music: Tom Kitt
Lyrics: Brian Yorkey (Winner)

+ Best Revival of a Play
The Norman Conquests (Winner)

+ Best Revival of a Musical
Hair (Winner)

+ Best Special Theatrical Event
Liza's at The Palace (Winner)

+ Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Geoffrey Rush (Winner)
Exit the King

+ Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Marcia Gay Harden (Winner)
God of Carnage

+ Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish (Winner)
Billy Elliot, The Musical

+ Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Alice Ripley (Winner)
Next to Normal

+ Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Roger Robinson (Winner)
Joe Turner's Come and Gone

+ Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Angela Lansbury (Winner)
Blithe Spirit

+ Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Gregory Jbara (Winner)
Billy Elliot, The Musical

+ Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Karen Olivo (Winner)
West Side Story

+ Best Direction of a Play
Matthew Warchus (Winner)
God of Carnage

+ Best Direction of a Musical
Stephen Daldry (Winner)
Billy Elliot, The Musical

+ Best Choreography
Peter Darling (Winner)
Billy Elliot, The Musical

+ Best Orchestrations
Martin Koch (Winner)
Billy Elliot, The Musical
Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt (Winner)
Next to Normal

+ Best Scenic Design of a Play
Derek McLane (Winner)
33 Variations

+ Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Ian MacNeil (Winner)
Billy Elliot, The Musical

+ Best Costume Design of a Play
Anthony Ward (Winner)
Mary Stuart

+ Best Costume Design of a Musical
Tim Hatley (Winner)
Shrek The Musical

+ Best Lighting Design of a Play
Brian MacDevitt (Winner)
Joe Turner's Come and Gone

+ Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Rick Fisher (Winner)
Billy Elliot, The Musical

+ Best Sound Design of a Play
Gregory Clarke (Winner)
Equus

+ Best Sound Design of a Musical
Paul Arditti (Winner)
Billy Elliot, The Musical

+ Special Tony Award® for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Jerry Herman (Winner)

+ Regional Theatre Tony Award®
Signature Theatre, Arlington, Va. (Winner)

+ Isabelle Stevenson Award
Phyllis Newman (Winner)

Twitter Traffic Machine - The Automated Growth & Money Making System

25th Philly Pro Cycling Tour (Philadelphia International Cycling Championship)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:20:00 +0000

25th Philly Pro Cycling Tour (Philadelphia International Cycling Championship) which is one of the longest single-day races started today. Contesters complate 10 laps of a 14.4 mile circuit. The cyclists finish with three laps of Lemon Hill and Logan Circle.
The offical site of Pro Cycling Tour gives live results. Please visit procyclingtour.com to learn results.

Hot Trends & News Buzz

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 22:34:00 +0000

Earth History: Rocks & Paleo Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 22:31:00 +0000

Here is an overview of the history of rocks on our planet. This is excellent summary of the earth's history and the rock cycle. Watch the earth transform.You will see a video below about this. We advice you to watch this.

As human we live on Earth without asking how occurred this earth. We go work, communicate, shop, love, eat etc. We live like all the things around of us are exist all the time. But especially science explorers the earth. Sometimes, science deals with numbers, and sometimes with great distances still other times with infinitely small particles. Science expands our conception of reality all the time. For science, one of these diffucult concepts is explain the Earth and how it took shape.

Here is video: Earth History: Rocks & Paleo Earth

Touch Screens Work

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:40:00 +0000

Although touch screen technology has been around for a number of decades, today we are experiencing a boom in the touch screen technology development industry. Beginning with the newly introduced iPhone, touch screen cell phones are available by just about every major cell phone manufacturer. But for those who wonder how the technology works, this article aims to answer those questions.

There are three basic systems used in screens to recognize your touch and at the writing of this article, infrared technology is making its way as the fourth system as well as others in development for different scale products. The development of touch screen technology focuses on improving screen brightness, touch sensitivity and accuracy, and the elimination of misreading unintentional touches.

In the first system, the glass panel is overlaid with two metallic sheets. The first sheet is conductive and the second resistive. There are spacers between the sheets to keep them just slightly separated as well as a protective layer that severs only to keep the entire screen from being damaged. When the screen is on, both layers are charged with electrical currents.

This type of touch screen system works regardless of the medium used to touch the screen. Pressure from the user’s fingertips, stylus, or from being dropped all do the same thing and that is forcing the two sheets to touch each other. When this happens, the electrical current changes and the computer calculates where on the screen the touch was made. This is known as the resistive system.

The capacitive system is built with a layer that holds an electrical charge right on top of the glass panel. When a finger touches the screen, some of the charge escapes into the finger. The decrease in charge is measured in circuits which are usually located at the corners of the screen. And from the relative change in charge at each corner the computer can calculate what the point of contact was with the finger that released some of the charge.

The surface acoustic wave system uses a pair of transducers along the sides of the glass plate. And reflectors are placed in the glass plate to reflect the electrical signal that is sent from one sending transducer to one receiving transducer. When a finger touches the screen, the electrical signal is disturbed and using two axes the computer can calculate the precise area of contact.

When it comes to these three types of touch screen systems, the surface acoustic is the most expensive but also allows for best quality. Without the need for a metallic sheet, it can allow 100% of the screens brightness to shine through. The resistive system, because it requires two sheets, allows only 75% and is the least expensive form of touch screen systems.

EU plea for urgency

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:14:00 +0000

On the eve of World Environment Day, June 5, European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas called for greater urgency and ambition in international negotiations on a new global climate agreement, saying that it represents the world’s last chance to prevent climate change from reaching dangerous levels.

World Environment Day 2009 has climate change as its theme.

"The new global climate agreement that is due to be finalised at the Copenhagen climate conference in December is the world’s last chance to prevent the dangerous, perhaps even catastrophic, levels of climate change that are projected by scientists to occur as early as 2050 – well within the lifetimes of over a billion young people alive today," Dimas said.

Last week a study for the Global Humanitarian Forum underlined the human tragedy climate change already represents, he said.

"Today climate change seriously affects 325 million people every year, kills about 315 000 people a year through hunger, sickness and extreme weather, and causes global economic losses of over $125 billion annually, the study estimates. These numbers are projected to rise substantially over the next 20 years."

Governments around the world had "rightly recognised" that the recession is no reason to slow the battle against climate change, Dimas said.

"Indeed, governments in Europe and elsewhere are designing the stimulus measures our economies need so that they both create jobs and tackle climate change by investing in energy efficiency, renewable energy and other low-carbon technologies of the future."

To prevent dangerous climate change, the international scientific consensus was that global warming must be kept to less than 2°C above the pre-industrial temperature, he said.

This translates into about 1.2°C above today’s level since warming of 0.76°C has already occurred, and some studies suggest the amount of greenhouse gases already emitted makes it likely that further warming of up to 1°C is unavoidable, according to Dimas.

"Time is not on our side," he said.

"Urgent and ambitious global action is therefore imperative if we are to prevent dangerous climate change that threatens to cause enormous human suffering, undermine economic progress and poverty reduction, and trigger potentially catastrophic environmental changes."

This need for urgency and ambition must be reflected in the pace and content of the international negotiations to prepare the Copenhagen agreement, Dimas said.

"The discussions under way in Bonn this week and next must take account of that. They need to inject greater momentum into the talks themselves and turn the draft negotiating texts now on the table into a blueprint for a sufficiently ambitious Copenhagen agreement."

The developed world must lead the way, he said.

"To get global emissions onto the right track to prevent dangerous climate change, developed countries must start by cutting their collective emissions to 30 per cent below their 1990 levels by 2020, in accordance with the science evidenced by the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)."

Dimas said that the EU had "shown its leadership and determination" by putting in place legislative measures to achieve a 20 per cent reduction and by committing to scale this up to 30 per cent if other countries agree to do their fair share.

"Now our partners need to show leadership, too. Some developed countries have yet to announce emission targets, while those targets on the table so far risk falling well short of the collective 30% reduction needed. Greater ambition is essential."

"We cannot win the battle against climate change unless developing countries, and particularly the big emerging economies, step up action to limit their rate of emissions growth," Dimas said.

But only by setting a strong example themselves will developed countries succeed in convincing the developing world to join the global effort that Copenhagen must launch, he said. Via http://www.sofiaecho.com

Illuminating and Misleading Takes on China 20 Years Since Tiananmen

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:28:00 +0000

I've already had my chance, via both print and online pieces, to offer my thoughts about the protests that erupted in scores of Chinese cities twenty years ago, the June 4th Massacre that crushed that upheaval, and how China has changed in the last twenty years. Meanwhile, though this is my first Tiananmen-themed piece for the Huffington Post, other contributors have been offering regular readers excellent reports and commentaries on specific subjects, ranging from the Tiananmen movement's significance to China's current leaders (subject of a fine piece by Susan Shirk) to the regime's decision to block Twitter and other social media (a topic handled well here by David Flumenbaum and also dealt with smartly and stylishly by Rebecca MacKinnon and Andrew Leonard on their blogs). I'm writing now with a different purpose: to comment on the commentaries. The Chinese events of 1989 have been revisited in so many ways lately that it doesn't seem too soon to provide a first assessment of some of the best and worst discussions of either the struggle as a whole or specific dimensions of it that have appeared, and to ask if the latest chatter on China fits in with larger patterns in coverage of that county.

As someone who finished a doctoral dissertation on Chinese student protests of the 1910s-1940s while the Tiananmen protest wave was underway (a revised version appeared as a book two years later) and soon afterward started serving as a consultant for the excellent documentary "The Gate of Heavenly Peace," I've spent a full two decades now not just paying attention to developments in China but also tracking international discussions of the June 4th Massacre and its precedents and legacy. Though I'll take issue with some parts of recent commentaries soon (pointing either to mistakes of fact or problems of interpretations, including the tendency by some analysts to overstate the degree of American influence on the students of 1989 or the gulf that separates the aspirations of those youths from those of their counterparts in the Beijing of today), I want to stress at the outset that I've found much to admire about some recent writings, as well as the overall coverage offered by some venues, including the Guardian and NPR websites. I've even learned some new specific facts about phenomena I thought I knew well: e.g., that the photographer who took the most famous shot of the man stopping the tanks thought, initially, that the man's arrival would "screw up" his photograph.

Getting down to specific new writings that seem particularly valuable, here are some examples of things I like. I was moved by the "growing cage" metaphor employed by Beijing-based independent writer Lijia Zhang, who marched in a Nanjing protest of 1989 as a young worker. She says that she and her fellow demonstrators felt trapped and longed to be freer; now, while still confined in a "cage," it is one that has "grown so big" for many of them that they can go about their daily lives unaware of "its limitations," thanks to the state being less intrusive and realms of private freedom expanding. I also found novelist Yu Hua's op-ed on gaining a new appreciation for the term "the people" in 1989 moving. And various Western journalists (both relative newcomers to the China beat like Mara Hvistendahl and people who were on the scene in 1989, such as James Miles and James Kynge) have done admirable pieces.

On the other hand, though, I've been dismayed to see some misguided old notions about the June 4th Massacre continue to circulate, and to see some odd ideas about contrasts between then and now get introduced or reinforced. In the familiar but still wrong category is the notion that the only people the troops killed in early June of 1989 were students; a larger number of those slain were workers. To cite just two examples of high-profile North American publications that do this, the National Post introduces a piece on Tiananmen's legacy by stating that the massacre was just of students, while an editorial in USA Today certainly gives readers that impression.

Another old problem that has resurfaced is a tendency to reduce the complexity of the grievances (economic as well as political), inspirations (provided by ideals rooted in China's own past as well from abroad), and symbols (the Goddess of Democracy was modeled on the Statue of Liberty but not simply a replica) involved in the struggle. To call the event a "pro-democracy" or "democracy" movement has always seemed an oversimplification to some analysts (myself included), and Kynge does a particularly good job of explaining its limitations. Still worse is to boil the undertaking down, as the Washington Times just did, to an effort to "bring America to China"; not only is this inaccurate, but it plays into a long-standing Chinese government argument that the protesters were somehow simply doing the bidding of the West and hence were not the "patriots" they claimed to be.

In terms of contrasts between the past and the present, there have been many apt handlings of the issue but also many that have gone astray. It is curious that a BBC video uses the fact that the current generation expresses itself by going to rock concerts to flag their difference from 1989 youths interested in politics, without noting that Chinese rocker Cui Jian was a key influence on the Tiananmen protesters. Similarly, while the specific forms that nationalism takes now may be different, it doesn't work to state or imply that nationalism played no role in the 1989 protests, since another singer the students found inspiring back then was Hou Dejian, whose most popular song at the time, "Children of the Dragon," had a strong nationalistic element to it.

Problems also arise when overly simplistic statements are made about then and now relating to freedom of speech and patterns of unrest. Nicholas Kristof muses, misleadingly, on why there are so "few protests" these days (there are a great many, just not ones that bring together people from different social groups or spread widely in geographical terms). Other writers misleading present the taboo regarding discussion of the June 4th Massacre in a manner that suggests a Big Brother state is tightly monitoring even the most private conversations, when the reality is that many people in China now feel free (and indeed are free), as they weren't always before, to talk among themselves about even hot-button topics, such as the crackdown in 1989, that would likely get them into trouble if they published about them or held meetings to discuss them.

In thinking about what patterns are revealed by these trends, I've found myself returning to an excellent piece that Timothy Garton Ash wrote just before the flood of stories linked to 1989 anniversary started, which the Los Angeles Times ran as "Lack of News about China has Nothing to Do with Bias" (it had other titles in other papers). One of his themes was the folly of putting too much emphasis on one kind of binary: that of the division between "positive" and "negative" stories about China. When Chinese official and unofficial commentators periodically complain that the Western press is distorting foreign understanding of the PRC by running too many "negative" stories about it and not enough "positive" ones, he pointed out, they overlook the fact that media systems in the West tend to thrive on "negative" reports about ALL places. And when it comes to getting a distorted sense of what is going on in the PRC, the "problem with regular China coverage in the mainstream western media is not its negativity; it's simply that there's too little of it," with the result that outsiders get not too jaundiced but too simplistic a sense of the complexities of the multiple and overlapping and often contradictory transformations reshaping Chinese society.

The recent situation suggests that in addition to this binary, others also can get in the way of understanding. Drawing a sharp divided between "internationally" minded and "nationalistic" generations of Chinese youths can lead us astray. So can thinking that the story of what happened in 1989 can be told in only two ways, the incorrect manner that the Chinese government tells it and the correct manner in which it is told outside of China, as one can be convinced that there are many ways to get the facts wrong, even if one believes, as I definitely do, that the Communist Party's "Big Lie" that there was no massacre on June 4th is the most disturbing of all ways to do so.

Ironically, the problem since Garton Ash published his piece has not been that there has been "too little" Western coverage of China. There's been plenty, thanks to not just the Tiananmen anniversary but also other developments, ranging from trips to Beijing by well-known political figures, to the latest North Korean nuclear crisis (these always lead to discussions of China's new importance in global diplomacy), to GM announcing that Hummers will henceforth be produced in the PRC. And yet, one suggestion that Garton Ash makes in his piece is as valuable in times of feast as in times of famine where China coverage is concerned. He tells readers who want to make sense of China from outside of the country that their best bet is to head to the "web, armed with a few tip-offs," as they can find there "an Aladdin's cave of rich, diverse, detailed reporting and analysis," adding that the should try "chinadigitaltimes.net and danwei.org as a first 'open sesame.'"

Well, sure enough, the two websites he mentions did an admirable job throughout the last few weeks of steering visitors toward some of the most worthwhile commentaries on 1989 and on comparisons between China then and China now, while also at times pointing out flaws in coverage of the topic. But that does not exhaust the list of sites worth turning to for a richer perspective on Chinese developments. And, interestingly, one of the places I've been turning to on the web to provide an "open sesame" for insightful analysis of the continuities as well as contrasts between the Tiananmen generation and today's Chinese students is a lively blog that Timothy Garton Ash is surely reading as well. It's called "Six," it just ran an excellent post called "Peking University of June 4th: 2009 is not 1989, and it's not 1984 either," and it's run by a 26 year-old British student named Alec Ash, who hails from Oxford and has a father who first made his mark on the world of commentary by writing about the PolishSolidarity movement that won a famous electoral victory exactly 20 years ago today (and whose initials are "TGA").

China’s Great Firewall Blocks Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:05:00 +0000

Catherine Henriette/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Twenty years ago today, on June 2, 1989, hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens were gathered in Tiananmen Square in Beijing calling for more democracy. The Chinese government wants to ensure that there will be no virtual equivalent of this gathering online this week.
source

Courtney Love hires private detective following AmEx suit

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:18:00 +0000

NEW YORK - Rock musician Courtney Love has hired a private detective once again after being sued by American Express for the 350,000 dollars fraudsters billed on her card.ven as AmEx chiefs claimed that the rocker ran up a huge bill on her Gold card and refused to pay it off, Love’s lawyer insisted that his client has been battling the charges for months because she didn’t spend the money.

But Love has hired private investigator John J. Nazarian to trace the origins of the fraud, and compile a case for the Los Angeles Police Department.

“She’s not a person without means. We’re ready to go to the LAPD because someone gained access to her Social Security number and applied for cards in her name,” the New York Post quoted Nazarian as saying.

“Its astounding AmEx didn’t question the charges beforehand,” he added. (ANI)

Adam Lambert Interview On Regis & Kelly Show

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:17:00 +0000

Adam Lambert from American Idol vists the Regis & Kelly Show on May 27, 2009. Watch video below!

Posted on 31-05-2009 What Features Are Just Fluff With Digital Cameras?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:16:00 +0000

Why is so difficult for camera companies to come up with one good all around digital camera that’s perfect for all occasions? I suppose it’s not really in their best interests to encourage consumers to only own one perfect camera, when they can sell them several. If I were more of a conspiracy theory advocate, I’d suggest they do it on purpose. But, I’m not, and I do believe there are other factors at work here. With all that being said, it doesn’t mean we can at least try to find the most likely candidate for best all around digital camera.

The release of the 450D is basically an upgraded version of the Canon EOS 400D, which was of course an upgrade from the Canon EOS 300D. Being one of the best selling models in the Canon line, a major overhaul would have been crazy on Canons part, both from a sales number perspective, and a user experience perspective. They have however added several smart new features. Not the least of which being Live View.

Smaller sized camera designs are very portable, but usually affect ease of use and image quality in negative ways. The smaller a camera is, the smaller the controls are, which makes them harder to use. Single control buttons and wheels are often used for multiple functions which can increase user confusion. Smaller cameras often mean, that features like viewfinders get left off in the effort to add bigger LCD screens. Smaller often means zoom lenses are less powerful, and overall lens quality suffers. The most successful small sized cameras I like are the Canon SD1000 Digital Elph, and the Olympus Stylus 790SW.

Another thing not to get too excited about with the PowerShot A650, is the wide range of ISO formats available. While it’s true, that you can shoot up to 3200 ISO, in reality, any images at 400 ISO or above are going to be excessively noisy. Depending on the image subject, and what your going to do with the images you may be able to push your luck a little here.

The ultimate in image quality usually means big bulky SLR cameras with a case load of lenses and controlled lighting for different types of shooting environments. SLR photography also involves micro managing of all the various camera settings such as aperture, ISO settings, white balance, f-stop and so on. You really have to know what your doing. The Canon Rebel XTi Digital SLR, or the Nikon D40 are good cameras in this category that don’t break the bank.

Last but not least is price. The suggested list price is currently $799 for the body and $899 with the lens kit (also improved). Looking to hit the streets around April 2008. If your reading this after the expected street date, then hey lucky you. The EOS 450D is an amazing camera for sure, but there’s never a camera better then the one in your hands right now. See ya, I’m off to take some pictures.

Abortion doctor George Tiller is killed; suspect in custody

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:45:00 +0000

The late-term abortion provider was shot at church in Wichita, Kan. A suspect was arrested three hours later about 170 miles away, police say. Tiller, 67, had been a victim of violence in the past.
By Robin Abcarian
4:17 PM PDT, May 31, 2009
Dr. George Tiller, one of the few American physicians who performed late-term abortions, was shot to death in the lobby of his church today in Wichita, Kan., according to his attorneys.

A 51-year-old suspect was arrested three hours after the shooting at 10 a.m. Central time in a Kansas City suburb about 170 miles from Wichita, police said. They did not release his name, but said he would probably be charged Monday with one count of murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

*
Doctor acquitted by Kansas jury in late-term abortion trial
*
Abortion provider's trial opens in Kansas

For years, Tiller, 67, was a lightning rod in the struggle over legalized abortion.

He had previously been the victim of violence. In 1993, he was shot in both arms by an abortion protester as he drove away from his clinic. In 1986, his Women's Health Care Services clinic was severely damaged in a bomb blast. In 1991, the clinic was blockaded for six weeks by anti-abortion protesters.

And this month, Tiller's attorneys told the Associated Press, the doctor had asked the FBI to investigate an incident where vandals cut wires to security cameras, cut holes in the roof and plugged downspouts, resulting in thousands of dollars in damage to the clinic.

In addition to fending off abortion protesters for years, Tiller had been pursued by public officials opposed to abortion.

In March, he was acquitted of charges that he broke a Kansas law requiring a second doctor to affirm that a late-term abortion was necessary to preserve the health of the woman. That second doctor must be financially and legally independent from the first physician.

In a trial that lasted five days -- and in which the jury took less than an hour to return its verdict -- Tiller was cleared of charges that he had improper ties to Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus.

Today, Neuhaus said that she had expected further violence after Tiller's acquittal. "I knew it was going to antagonize these people that he quote, unquote, got off the hook," she said. "Dr. Tiller really was a warrior. He was a quiet, persistent, capable visionary, a true leader. Even if he had known it was going to end up this way, he wouldn't have been deterred."

During his trial, when his attorney asked why he stayed in practice despite years of harassment, Tiller told the jury, " 'Quit' is not something I like to do."

The Associated Press reported that parishioner Adam Watkins, 20, said he was sitting in the middle of the congregation at Reformation Lutheran Church when he heard a small pop at the start of the service.

"We just thought a child had come in with a balloon, and it had popped, had gone up and hit the ceiling and popped," Watkins said.

Another usher came in and told the congregation to remain seated, then escorted Tiller's wife out. "When she got to the back doors, we heard her scream, and so we knew something bad had happened," Watkins said.

Later, Tiller's attorneys released a statement from Tiller's wife, Jeanne, his four children and 10 grandchildren.

"Today we mourn the loss of our husband, father and grandfather," it said. "Today's event is an unspeakable tragedy for all of us and for George's friends and patients. This is particularly heart wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace. Our loss is also a loss for the city of Wichita and women across America. George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality healthcare despite frequent threats and violence. We ask that he be remembered as a good husband, father and grandfather and a dedicated servant on behalf of the rights of women everywhere."

Phill Kline, the former Kansas attorney general whose investigations led to the charges being filed against Tiller, decried the killing.

'"I am stunned by this lawless and violent act which must be condemned and should be met with the full force of law," said Kline in an e-mailed statement.

But Warren Hern, a Colorado physician and close friend of Tiller's who said he is now "the only doctor in the world" who performs very late-term abortions, said Tiller's death was predictable.

"I think it's the inevitable consequence of more than 35 years of constant anti-abortion terrorism, harassment and violence. George is the fifth American doctor to be assassinated. I get messages from these people saying, 'Don't bother wearing a bulletproof vest, we're going for a head shot.' "

When President Obama was elected last fall, Hern predicted that antiabortion violence would increase, he said. Because Obama supports legalized abortion, said Hern, its foes "have lost ground. . . . They want the doctors dead, and they invite people to assassinate us. No wonder that this happens. . . . I am next on the list."

NCAA baseball regional: Beavers stay alive with 13-5 win over Texas A&M

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:44:00 +0000

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Oregon State's Koa Kahalehoe had five hits and drove in three runs to highlight an 18-hit attack that carried the Beavers to a 13-5 victory over Texas A&M in Sunday's NCAA regional elimination game at Texas Christian University's Lupton Stadium.

Beavers starter Jorge Reyes scattered nine hits and had five strikeouts, helping lift OSU (37-18) into Sunday's 5 p.m. match-up with the host TCU Horned Frogs.

Texas A&M of the Big 12 Conference finished the season with a 37-24 record

Sophomore left-hander Tanner Robles (1-3, 5.01) will start for the Beavers against TCU junior right-hander Tyler Lockwood (4-1, 4.33).

If OSU wins today's second game, the Beavers would force a deciding game on Monday at 5 p.m. for a Super Regional Berth. If TCU wins, the Beavers season will be over and the Horned Frogs of the Mountain West Conference will head to their first Super Regional in school history.

The Beavers sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning and jumped on Aggies starter Clayton Ehlert for six runs on six hits, giving Reyes some early breathing room.

Leadoff hitter Michael Miller started the first-inning uprising when he reached safely on a strike-three wild pitch. Consecutive singles by Adalberto Santos, Kahalehoe and Ryan Ortiz gave the Beavers a 1-0 lead. Then came a two-run double by Jared Norris, a RBI-groundout by John Wallace, and RBI-doubles by Joey Wong and John Tommasini that made it 6-0.

The Beavers made it 7-0 in the second when Ortiz sent a 3-2 pitch over the left field fence for a two-out homer, chasing Ehlert from the game in favor of reliever Esteban Uriegas.

Uriegas lasted one inning, giving up a run in the third when Romero led off with a walk and scored on Tommasini's single to left, pushing the lead to 8-0.

Kahalehoe capped a three-run fifth inning with a two-run double to left that scored Miller and Santos to make it 11-0.

Reyes, making his 14th start for the Beavers, took a five-hit shutout into the sixth when A&M's Joe Patterson hammered a 1-1 pitch off the scoreboard in right field for his 12th home run of the season the Aggies' 85th of the season, cutting OSU's lead to 11-1.

The Beavers added a run in the seventh when Kahalehoe singled - his seventh hit of the double-elimination tournament - and scored on a Norris groundout to make it 12-1.

In the eighth, Texas A&M scored twice, but Kahalehoe singled home pinch-hitter Brett Casey to make it 13-3.

The Aggies scored a couple unearned runs in the ninth after a throwing error by Romero at third and a field error by Tommasini at second. Reyes then closed out his first complete game by get Patterson on a called third strike.source