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Monday, June 30, 2008

BUSH'S AMERICA: 100 PERCENT AL-QAIDA FREE SINCE 2001

Here's a really good article on President Bush by Anne Coulter. I'm glad there's a positive piece out there about good ol' GWB- I'm so sick and tired of liberals and conservatives whining about the decisions President Bush had to make during his turbulent presidency. Call me a blind follower, but I doubt any one of you out there could've kept America safe from terrorists, had you been president. GWB, with courage in his heart and faith in God, took a stand and made hard decisions. He is still making hard decisions. He never pandered to anybody, unlike Obama, and yes, even McCain. I'm gonna miss him when he's gone!

Remember?

"I can hear you, the rest of the world can hear you and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon...
I will not forget this wound to our country or those who inflicted it. I will not yield; I will not rest; I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people."

-President Bush


After September 11, he promised that he would not yield nor rest. Many years later, the President is still fighting.

Ann Coulter:
In a conversation recently, I mentioned as an aside what a great president George Bush has been and my friend was surprised. I was surprised that he was surprised.

I generally don't write columns about the manifestly obvious, but, yes, the man responsible for keeping Americans safe from another terrorist attack on American soil for nearly seven years now will go down in history as one of America's greatest presidents.

Produce one person who believed, on Sept. 12, 2001, that there would not be another attack for seven years, and I'll consider downgrading Bush from "Great" to "Really Good."

Merely taking out Saddam Hussein and his winsome sons Uday and Qusay (Hussein family slogan: "We're the Rape Room People!") constitutes a greater humanitarian accomplishment than anything Bill Clinton ever did -- and I'm including remembering Monica's name on the sixth sexual encounter.

But unlike liberals, who are so anxious to send American troops to Rwanda or Darfur, Republicans oppose deploying U.S. troops for purely humanitarian purposes. We invaded Iraq to protect America.

It is unquestionable that Bush has made this country safe by keeping Islamic lunatics pinned down fighting our troops in Iraq. In the past few years, our brave troops have killed more than 20,000 al-Qaida and other Islamic militants in Iraq alone. That's 20,000 terrorists who will never board a plane headed for JFK -- or a landmark building, for that matter.

We are, in fact, fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them at, say, the corner of 72nd and Columbus in Manhattan -- the mere mention of which never fails to enrage liberals, which is why you should say it as often as possible.

The Iraq war has been a stunning success. The Iraqi army is "standing up" (as they say), fat Muqtada al-Sadr --the Dr. Phil of Islamofascist radicalism -- has waddled off in retreat to Iran, and Sadr City and Basra are no longer war zones. Our servicemen must be baffled by the constant nay-saying coming from their own country.

The Iraqis have a democracy -- a miracle on the order of flush toilets in that godforsaken region of the world. Despite its newness, Iraq's democracy appears to be no more dysfunctional than one that would condemn a man who has kept the nation safe for seven years while deifying a man who has accomplished absolutely nothing in his entire life except to give speeches about "change."

(Guess what Bill Clinton's campaign theme was in 1992? You are wrong if you guessed: "bringing dignity back to the White House." It was "change." In January 1992, James Carville told Steve Daley of The Chicago Tribune that it had gotten to the point that the press was complaining about Clinton's "constant talk of change.")

Monthly casualties in Iraq now come in slightly lower than a weekend with Anna Nicole Smith. According to a CNN report last week, for the entire month of May, there were only 19 troop deaths in Iraq. (Last year, five people on average were shot every day in Chicago.) With Iraqi deaths at an all-time low, Iraq is safer than Detroit -- although the Middle Eastern food is still better in Detroit.

Al-Qaida is virtually destroyed, surprising even the CIA. Two weeks ago, The Washington Post reported: "Less than a year after his agency warned of new threats from a resurgent al-Qaida, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden now portrays the terrorist movement as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the defensive throughout much of the rest of the world, including in its presumed haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border."

It's almost as if there's been some sort of "surge" going on, as strange as that sounds.

Just this week, The New York Times reported that al-Qaida and other terrorist groups in Southeast Asia have all but disappeared, starved of money and support. The U.S. and Australia have been working closely with the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, sending them counterterrorism equipment and personnel.

But no one notices when 9/11 doesn't happen. Indeed, if we had somehow stopped the 9/11 attack, we'd all be watching Mohammed Atta being interviewed on MSNBC, explaining his lawsuit against the Bush administration. Maureen Dowd would be writing columns describing Khalid Sheik Mohammed as a "wannabe" terrorist being treated like Genghis Khan by an excitable Bush administration.

We begin to forget what it was like to turn on the TV, see a tornado, a car chase or another Pamela Anderson marriage and think: Good -- another day without a terrorist attack.

But liberals have only blind hatred for Bush -- and for those brute American interrogators who do not supply extra helpings of bearnaise sauce to the little darlings at Guantanamo with sufficient alacrity.

The sheer repetition of lies about Bush is wearing people down. There is not a liberal in this country worthy of kissing Bush's rear end, but the weakest members of the herd run from Bush. Compared to the lickspittles denying and attacking him, Bush is a moral giant -- if that's not damning with faint praise. John McCain should be so lucky as to be running for Bush's third term. Then he might have a chance.

(Yahoo)

Here is an interesting comment from a poster over at Free Republic:

In 2000 there were 5 Mideastern nations defined as state sponsors of terrorism. Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Syria.

Now there are 2. Even the brain dead Left should be able to do that much math.


And another one:

Did President Bush make this world safer? Indeed he did.

1) During the Bush Administration Libya gives up its nuclear weapons program.

2) During the Bush Administration the black market from Pakistan led by A.Q.Kahn for nuclear weapons technology is broken up.

3) During the Bush Administration North Korea begins dismantling their plutonium enrichment reactors.

4) During the Bush Administration Israel and the U.S.A. destroy Syria’s nuclear weapons enrichment reactors.

5) During the Bush Administration, Saddam Hussein who said quite clearly while in jail awaiting his trial that he would have had the U.N. sanctions broken and be in full production of WMDs within a year. That would be the years 2004 - 2005 approximately that Saddam would have been re-armed with WMDs. It now goes without saying the obvious that Saddam will not be getting nuclear weapons anytime soon. Nor will he be directly funding and training the terror group ‘Islamic Jihad’ which is al-Qaeda and whom blew up two U.S. embassies. (see the recent: Iraqi Perspectives Project).

6) During the Bush Administration the U.S.A. has nuclear weapon ambitious Iran pinned in on both sides from Afghanistan and Iraq which is pure strategic genius.

Under Clinton the countries Pakistan and India successfully test nuclear weapons and North Korea begins plutonium enrichment.


Food for a thought.

other news:
Who'll Keep the Faith-Based Initiative?

Sunday, June 29, 2008

WAR ON TERROR: Blast destroys militant compound in Pakistan


PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A resident says a powerful explosion has destroyed a militant compound in northwestern Pakistan's tribal region, killing eight people.

The cause of the explosion early Monday in Bar Qambarkhel village is unclear. A militant spokesman claims it was a missile strike launched from neighboring Afghanistan.

It comes three days after Pakistani paramilitary forces launched a major offensive against pro-Taliban militants in Khyber.

Resident Nawaz Khan Afridi says he was woken by a loud explosion and joined dozens of villagers is rescuing survivors. He says he saw eight bodies.

Militant spokesman Munsif Khan claims it was a missile strike which had killed at least six supporters of the Vice and Virtue Movement and wounded 20.

(AP)

WAR: Iran to ready thousands of graves for enemy soldiers.


Iran is to dig 320,000 graves in border districts to allow for the burial of enemy soldiers in the event of any attack on its territory, a top commander said on Sunday.

"In implementation of the Geneva Conventions... the necessary measures are being taken to provide for the burial of enemy soldiers," the Mehr news agency quoted General Mir-Faisal Bagherzadeh as saying.

"We have plans to dig 15,000 to 20,000 graves in each of the border provinces or a total of 320,000," the general said, some of them mass graves if necessary.

Bagherzadeh said Iran was keen to "reduce the suffering of the families of the fallen in any attack against our country... and prevent any repetition of the long and bitter experience of the Vietnam War."

His comments came as the United States continued to refuse to rule out an eventual resort to force against Iran over its contested nuclear programme, which the West fears is cover for a drive to build an atomic weapon.

They also came as Israeli officials spoke of their determination to prevent Iran developing a nuclear capability at all costs.

A former head of Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence agency said in comments published on Sunday that the Jewish state had one year to destroy Iran's nuclear programme or face the risk of coming under nuclear attack.

Shabtai Shavit told a London weekly that the "worst-case scenario" was that Tehran would have a nuclear weapon within "somewhere around a year".

"The time that is left to be ready is getting shorter all the time," he told the Sunday Telegraph.

Israel is the only, if undeclared, nuclear armed power in the Middle East.

(Brietbart)

other news
From PatDollard: Olmert agrees to free Palestinian terrorists

The most difficult part for Israel was the release of Samir Kantar. He is serving multiple life sentences for infiltrating northern Israel in 1979 and killing three Israelis—a 28-year-old man, his 4-year-old daughter and an Israeli police officer.

Witnesses said Kantar smashed the little girl’s head against a rock and crushed her skull with a rifle butt. The attack has been etched in the Israeli psyche as one of the cruelest in the nation’s history. Kantar denied killing the girl or smashing her skull.

Her mother, while trying to silence the cries of her other daughter as Kantar and three others rampaged through the apartment, accidentally smothered the 2-year-old.

On Sunday, the mother, Smadar Haran Kaiser, said she was devastated by the decision but understood it.

I just don't understand how you can set free such a cruel monster.

LIPCARE: Lip Exfoliators

M·A·C Prep + Prime Microfine Lip Refinisher. Genius. This is a two-in-one lip-conditioning/exfoliating stick. It's important to take good care of your lips, especially when you're a lipgloss addict like me! Besides, nobody would dare kiss lips that flake- it's icky! And anyways, tissuing off your nasty red lipstick just isn't good enough anymore. This product will definitely get those dried up skin off your puckers, give 'em the loving conditioning they deserve, and provide you with a smooth canvas to swipe your glossies on! The Body Shop's Lipscuff is also pretty good. It's what I was using before I switched to MAC. More lip exfoliators below! Just click on the pics for more info.


  

POLITICS: City Vehicles Painted with Anti-Obama Sayings

What is this? A bunch of potheads on the loose?


ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35, Orlando) -- The Orlando Police Department found dozens of city owned vehicles vandalized Saturday.

The vandal or vandals appear to have political intentions; most of the vehicles were spray painted with anti Obama sayings, with ‘Obama’ misspelled several times. Some of their vehicles had their gas caps removed.

Officials said that gas caps were removed from several of the vehicles and they aren’t sure if gas was stolen or if something could have been added to the tanks that will damage the engines.

The person or persons left a business card with political ramblings and other phrases such as ‘How ‘Bout them Gators’ and ‘Legalize Marijuana/ Stop Building Prisons’.

Police are investigating but have no leads and no estimate on the damages.

(Fox Orlando)

BAGSNOB: Chanel Patent Evening Bag


It's time to save up for another Chanel bag! Chanel is more dear to me than life itself. Chanel bags make great heirlooms- 20 years later, they're still precious as gold. Even Victoria Beckham was caught shopping around for vintage Chanels! And we're talking about Posh Spice here, the girl who has everything- and she was out there looking for vintage bags! That's the power of Chanel, folks! Actually, I used to be more of a Dior girl until they started making bags like this. Gnarly! Anyway, I was taking my daily dose of Bagsnob and I was psyched to see their new reveal: the perfect evening bag from Chanel! It's patent calfskin with jewel details and it'll cost you a delightful $5,495.

I don't care, though. I'd sell my soul for this one!

POLITICS: McCain, Iraqi President say progress being made.

Looking more presidential than ever, hey? I don't know if I'll ever warm up to McCain- I'm too much of a GWB supporter. But, hey, McCain is infinitely better than Hussein, even if he spends half his time courting Clinton Democrats and anti-Bush independents. Besides, can you imagine Hussein being the leader of the free world? I bet he'll do all the wrong things! He'll probably change the presidential seal to satisfy his crazy ego, then disarm America and do away with the defense budget so he can set-up a worthless Department of Peace to make the wiccans from Code Pink deliriously happy, then he'll sit down with the ayatollah of Iran for a little chat, then pull the troops out of Iraq and leave Israel in a very vulnerable position and then blame GWB for all the chaos that will follow. Scary.


Sooo presidential.

WASHINGTON - Appearing together in solidarity, Republican John McCain and Iraq's president said Saturday that the war-ravaged country is making significant but fragile progress.

The GOP presidential nominee-in-waiting expressed confidence about prospects for the two countries completing a complex agreement that would keep U.S. troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year-end. And, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said an American military presence still was needed.

"I, of, course am encouraged. We both agree that the progress has been significant but the progress is also fragile. And there's a lot of work that needs to be done," McCain said at the end of a private 45-minute meeting with Talabani.

Sitting next to the Arizona senator at a Washington hotel, Talabani nodded in agreement and said it was a pleasure and an honor to update an "old friend" about "this stage of success" in Iraq.

U.S. and Iraqi authorities are trying to meet a July target date for completing a security agreement. Talks bogged down over several key issues, which Iraqi lawmakers said violated the nation's sovereignty. Recently, however, Iraqi authorities said prospects for a deal had brightened after the Americans submitted new, unspecified proposals.

Talabani discussed the issue with President Bush on Wednesday.

McCain emphasized that the two countries will decide the role of U.S. forces together.

"I am confident that the two nations, as sovereign nations, will reach agreement in the best interest of the United States of America and the best interest of the government of Iraq," McCain said.

"We are winning in Iraq, and we will withdraw, but we will withdraw with victory and honor," McCain said.

Talabani, for his part, said his country has achieved "good successes and achievements" in training the Iraqi army and policy force.

But, he said: "We are still in need to have American military presence in Iraq, and it must be decided by both governments of the United States and Iraq how much they will remain there."

Talabani added: "In my personal opinion, we are in need to have some, at least some, military bases as a symbol for preventing others in interfering (with) internal affairs of Iraq.

Later, as he spoke to a Hispanic organization, McCain was interrupted four times by anti-war protesters, who screamed "we want a peace candidate" and "bring our troops home."

McCain also met with Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Saturday, and was traveling to Kentucky for an evening fundraiser.

(AP)

Saturday, June 28, 2008

VIDEO: The INCREDIBLE McCain Girl


Omg, this is seriously funny!!!! And it's nice to see Giuliani Girl again!! lol!

MAKE-UP: Prescriptives All Skin Mineral Make-up

Beginning July 2008, Prescriptives will release it's mineral make-up line, All Skins Mineral Makeup SPF 15! It comes in 18 different shades so I'm pretty sure you'll find something for youself in their extensive collection. Also, according to Talking Make-Up, All Skins Mineral Make-up is the only brand of mineral make-up that contains radiance emitting crystals: a mixture of amethyst, rose quartz, and calcite. Now who wouldn't want to have semi-precious gems illuminating their face?!
All Skins is also free of fragrance, that dreaded TALC ingredient (it clogs up your pores and 'causes those shameful break-outs!), and oil. I also love the fact that it contains SPF 15 to protect your skin from the harmful rays of the sun. It also claims to be humidity resistant and oil-controlling- two big pluses, especially since both humidity and oil make make-up look cakey! The product is also dermatologist tested and ophthalmologist tested, and, in addition, is also water resistant.

Too good to be true!!!!


Great color range!

Here's a short list of the ingredients:
From Talking Make-Up: Minerals, including Calcite and Mica, and semi-precious gems, including Amethyst and Rose Quartz, provide luminosity and a lightweight feel. Squalane and Lecithin provide skin conditioning benefits.
Silica helps keep skin shine-free. Contains antioxidant 2CME, a molecule that combines Vitamin C and E which boosts their effect. Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide provide broad spectrum UVA/UVB SPF 15 protection.

POLITICS: Obama's new cult

Obama Supporters Take His Middle Name as Their Own

Emily Nordling has never met a Muslim, at least not to her knowledge. But this spring, Ms. Nordling, a 19-year-old student from Fort Thomas, Ky., gave herself a new middle name on Facebook.com, mimicking her boyfriend and shocking her father.

“Emily Hussein Nordling,” her entry now reads.

With her decision, she joined a growing band of supporters of Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who are expressing solidarity with him by informally adopting his middle name.

The result is a group of unlikely-sounding Husseins: Jewish and Catholic, Hispanic and Asian and Italian-American, from Jaime Hussein Alvarez of Washington, D.C., to Kelly Hussein Crowley of Norman, Okla., to Sarah Beth Hussein Frumkin of Chicago.

Jeff Strabone of Brooklyn now signs credit card receipts with his newly assumed middle name, while Dan O’Maley of Washington, D.C., jiggered his e-mail account so his name would appear as “D. Hussein O’Maley.” Alex Enderle made the switch online along with several other Obama volunteers from Columbus, Ohio, and now friends greet him that way in person, too.

Mr. Obama is a Christian, not a Muslim. Hussein is a family name inherited from a Kenyan father he barely knew, who was born a Muslim and died an atheist. But the name has become a political liability. Some critics on cable television talk shows dwell on it, while others, on blogs or in e-mail messages, use it to falsely assert that Mr. Obama is a Muslim or, more fantastically, a terrorist.

“I am sick of Republicans pronouncing Barack Obama’s name like it was some sort of cuss word,” Mr. Strabone wrote in a manifesto titled “We Are All Hussein” that he posted on his own blog and on dailykos.com.

So like the residents of Billings, Mont., who reacted to a series of anti-Semitic incidents in 1993 with a townwide display of menorahs in their front windows, these supporters are brandishing the name themselves.

“My name is such a vanilla, white-girl American name,” said Ashley Holmes of Indianapolis, who changed her name online “to show how little meaning ‘Hussein’ really has.”

The movement is hardly a mass one, and it has taken place mostly online, the digital equivalent of wearing a button with a clever, attention-getting message. A search revealed hundreds of participants across the country, along with a YouTube video and bumper stickers promoting the idea. Legally changing names is too much hassle, participants say, so they use “Hussein” on Facebook and in blog posts and comments on sites like nytimes.com, dailykos.com and mybarackobama.com, the campaign’s networking site.

New Husseins began to crop up online as far back as last fall. But more joined up in February after a conservative radio host, Bill Cunningham, used Mr. Obama’s middle name three times and disparaged him while introducing Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, at a campaign rally. (Mr. McCain repudiated Mr. Cunningham’s comments).

The practice has been proliferating ever since. In interviews, several Obama supporters said they dreamed up the idea on their own, with no input from the campaign and little knowledge that others shared their thought.

Some said they were inspired by movies, including “Spartacus,” the 1960 epic about a Roman slave whose peers protect him by calling out “I am Spartacus!” to Roman soldiers, and “In and Out,” a 1997 comedy about a gay high school teacher whose students protest his firing by proclaiming that they are all gay as well.

“It’s one of those things that just takes off, because everybody got it right away,” said Stephanie Miller, a left-leaning comedian who blurted out the idea one day during a broadcast of her syndicated radio talk show and repeated it on CNN.

Ms. Miller and her fellow new Husseins are embracing the traditionally Muslim name even as the Obama campaign shies away from Muslim associations. Campaign workers ushered two women in head scarves out of a camera’s range at a rally this month in Detroit. (The campaign has apologized.) Aides canceled a December appearance on behalf of Mr. Obama by Representative Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat and the first Muslim congressman.

Mr. Obama may be more enthusiastic, judging from his response at a Chicago fund-raiser two weeks ago. When he saw that Richard Fizdale, a longtime contributor, wore “Hussein” on his name tag, Mr. Obama broke into a huge grin, Mr. Fizdale said.

“The theory was, we’re all Hussein,” Mr. Obama said to the crowd later, explaining Mr. Fizdale’s gesture.

Some Obama supporters say they were moved to action because of what their own friends, neighbors and relatives were saying about their candidate. Mark Elrod, a political science professor at Harding University in Searcy, Ark., is organizing students and friends to declare their Husseinhood on Facebook on Aug. 4, Mr. Obama’s birthday.

Ms. Nordling changed her name after volunteering for Mr. Obama before the Kentucky primary.

“People would not listen to what you were saying on the phone or on their doorstep because they thought he was Muslim,” she said.

Ms. Nordling’s uncle liked the idea so much that he joined the same Facebook group that she had. But when her father saw her new online moniker, he was incredulous.

“He actually thought I was going to convert to Islam,” Ms. Nordling said.

other news
America's fury as Hamza smuggles hate messages to Bin Laden's No 2... From UK jail cell

MI5 warns of suicide bombers using ambulances

UK to release terrorist

Friday, June 27, 2008

WAR: Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran?

A strike against Iranian nuclear-related targets could be carried out before the next US administration enters office.

Israeli military intelligence (AMAN) may estimate that Barack Obama has more than a fair chance of winning in upcoming elections. However, they may wait for the results before deciding to strike.

Ironically, an Obama victory will probably be the tipping point. Israeli MI is no doubt cognizant of the fact that Obama's Middle East policy-makers will favor "diplomacy" and try to avert a strike at all costs.

However, the Israeli government may attempt to utilize the frightening specter of a strike to expedite the sale of advanced military equipment to the Jewish state.

A Likud government led by Benjamin Netanyahu (with support from Shas and other rightist parties) would be more likely to strike Iranian nuclear targets, much like Menachem Begin (against Osirak) in 1981.

There would be intense consultations with the outgoing Bush administration over the timing and scope of the strike, specifically regarding how it would affect the burgeoning price of oil.

(DefenseTech.Org)

SKINCARE: MAC Cosmetics Volcanic Ash Exfoliator


A foaming and exfoliating scrub made with volcanic ash and sugar crystals from the island nation of Vanuatu, located in the South Pacific Ocean. Not only does it deeply cleanses your skin, it also adds moisture which leaves your skin smooth and clean. One thing's for sure: This shit is better than St. Ives' apricot scrub. The grains are not rough as nails, so it doesn't feel like you've got itsy-bitsy monsters clawing at your flesh each time you shower. Yeeoowch.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

RUMOR: Lara Logan, a civil contractor, and Michael Ware.

From The New York Post:


Sexy CBS siren Lara Logan spent her days covering the heat of the Iraq war - but that was nothing compared to the heat of her nights. The "60 Minutes" reporter and former swimsuit model apparently courted two beaus while she was in Baghdad, and has been labeled a homewrecker for allegedly destroying the marriage of a civilian contractor there, sources said.

Passions got so hot in the combat zone that one of her lovers, Joe Burkett, brawled in a Baghdad "safe house" with her other paramour, CNN war reporter Michael Ware, a source said.

The wife of Burkett, a US Embassy worker, claims the sultry 37-year-old correspondent seduced him while bullets flew overhead.

Burkett's wife, Kimberly, also accuses Logan of teaming up with him to take her 3-year-old daughter away, according to the source.

A close pal of Logan, who confirmed the allegations to The Post, said Burkett's marriage to Kimberly was already finished six months before they sparked up a relationship.

"She is not the cause of their divorce," the friend told The Post yesterday.

"It was going to happen."

The pal also said Logan was particularly hurt by the comments because she had met Kimberly Burkett and thought the two were "friendly."

Kimberly filed for divorce from her husband in January in a court near their hometown of Fredericksburg, Texas.

The husband, 36, and wife, 32, are now battling over custody of toddler Ashley.

Pals of Logan said that the divorce attorney is just grandstanding by dragging the rising television star into the Texas couple's split.

"Lara is not part of their divorce proceedings," a friend said.

"The simple truth is that this was a marriage that was breaking up. And that's the bottom line."

As for the other claims, pals admitted that Logan had a one-time fling with CNN reporter Ware - but denied that there was any sort of fight between him and Burkett in Baghdad.

"There was no screaming match," the pal said.

Tale of the love fight first broke on the freerepublic.com in December.

The scandal comes just as the former model's journalistic career is starting to skyrocket.

It's a stunning turn of events for the respected journalist, who once told The Washington Post that she "has no social life."

Yesterday, CBS announced, without a hint of irony, that she was given a new Washington assignment as chief foreign-affairs correspondent. She joined the network in 2002 and became a "60 Minutes" correspondent in 2006.

The network touted her as the only American reporter who was in Baghdad when the United States invaded in 2003.

Logan was born in Durban, South Africa. She has been going through a divorce from her husband of nine years, Jason Siemon, a former European-league basketball player.

"That is a very sad thing for Lara," a pal said.

POLITICS: Hussein ready to flip-flop his way to the White House!


"And why not? What’s the downside? He won’t lose the left, or even mainstream Democrats. They won’t stay home on Nov. 4. The anti-Bush, anti-Republican sentiment is simply too strong. Election Day is their day of revenge — for the Florida recount, for Swift-boating, for all the injuries, real and imagined, dealt out by Republicans over the last eight years."


The Most Liberal Senator:
Unabashedly Unprincipled
Obama’s repositionings are legion — and make even the Clintons look scrupulous.

By Charles Krauthammer

To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies. — Obama spokesman Bill Burton, Oct. 24, 2007

That was then: Democratic primaries to be won, netroot lefties to be seduced. With all that (and Hillary Clinton) out of the way, Obama now says he’ll vote in favor of the new FISA bill that gives the telecom companies blanket immunity for post-9/11 eavesdropping.

Back then, in the yesteryear of primary season, he thoroughly trashed the North American Free Trade Agreement, pledging to force a renegotiation, take “the hammer” to Canada and Mexico, and threaten unilateral abrogation.

Today, the hammer is holstered. Obama calls his previous NAFTA rhetoric “overheated” and essentially endorses what one of his senior economic advisers privately told the Canadians: The anti-trade stuff was nothing more than populist posturing.

Nor is there much left of his primary season pledge to meet “without preconditions” with Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. There will be “preparations,” you see, which are being spun by his aides into the functional equivalent of preconditions.

Obama’s long march to the center has begun.

And why not? What’s the downside? He won’t lose the left, or even mainstream Democrats. They won’t stay home on Nov. 4. The anti-Bush, anti-Republican sentiment is simply too strong. Election Day is their day of revenge — for the Florida recount, for Swift-boating, for all the injuries, real and imagined, dealt out by Republicans over the last eight years.

Normally, flip-flopping presidential candidates have to worry about the press. Not Obama. After all, this is a press corps that heard his grandiloquent Philadelphia speech — designed to rationalize why “I can no more disown (Jeremiah Wright) than I can disown my white grandmother” — then wiped away a tear and hailed him as the second coming of Abraham Lincoln. Three months later, with Wright disowned, grandma embraced and the great “race speech” now inoperative, not a word of reconsideration is heard from his media acolytes.

Worry about the press? His FISA flip-flop elicited a few grumbles from lefty bloggers, but hardly a murmur from the mainstream press. Remember his pledge to stick to public financing? Now flush with cash, he is the first general-election candidate since Watergate to opt out. Some goo-goo clean-government types chided him, but the mainstream editorialists who for years had been railing against private financing as hopelessly corrupt and corrupting, evinced only the mildest of disappointment.

Indeed, the New York Times expressed a sympathetic understanding of Obama’s about-face by buying his preposterous claim that it was a pre-emptive attack on McCain’s 527 independent expenditure groups — notwithstanding the fact that (a) as Politico’s Jonathan Martin notes, “there are no serious anti-Obama 527s in existence nor are there any immediate plans to create such a group” and (b) the only independent ad of any consequence now running in the entire country is an AFSCME-MoveOn.org co-production savaging McCain.

True, Obama’s U-turn on public financing was not done for ideological reasons, it was done for Willie Sutton reasons: That’s where the money is. It nonetheless betrayed a principle that so many in the press claimed to hold dear.

Read more?

other news
McCain backs gun decision, Obama straddles issue
GOP aims at Obama after gun ruling

MAKE-UP: I love my mineral make-up!

I haven't been blogging much 'cause I'm busy with work and stuff. Anyway, Mini-Me has a sex tape out! That is just... seriously gross. The guy who got his hands on the Paris Hilton sex tape is now planning to sell Mini-Me's homemade porno. I don't imagine anyone itching to grab it! It's just too icky!

Anyway I am seriously obsessing over my L'Oreal True Match Mineral Powder. The brush is worthless, like I said, but the coverage is very good. I am now officially obsessed with this not-so-new trend! I even found a great blog dedicated to writing reviews on various mineral products. Sadly, there is no review to educate us more about L'Oreal's True Match Mineral Powder (about the ingredients included in making the product and whatnot), but at least I now know I should stay away from Maybelline's Mineral Powder Loose Foundation. According to the site, it offers little coverage and contains a bunch of unnecessary ingredients. So for now, I'm sticking with L'Oreal.

And oh, remember when I said Revlon's mineral blush sucks like crazy? It's still sort of true- I still hate Revlon (ColorStay usually never works on me!) - but I must admit that, after using their mineral blush a wee bit more, I've warmed up to it. The blush does stay on for a loooong time: More than eight hours of sweat, nerves, and stress- and the rouge on my cheeks have not faded a bit! It's still a mess to use, though. But at least I no longer regret buying this product at all. It sure as hell beats Neutrogena's mineral blush. That one was a waste of moolah.



Okay so you know what I'm excited about? Bobbi Brown's Mauve Collection! I'm so splurging on it!


I love neutrals with a kick and this collection is it. I'm especially excited to get my hands on their glossies! I've heard all about Black Pearl and, from the tube, it looks like a scary pearlized gray lipgloss. But according to Beauty Addict it looks "sheer purple nude" when applied to the lips. Whatever that means!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

VIDEO: Rewind.


Remember this old video? Gee, I was just a kid when I first saw this!

AP: China admits taking, burying US POW

WASHINGTON - After decades of denials, the Chinese have acknowledged burying an American prisoner of war in China, telling the U.S. that a teenage soldier captured in the Korean War died a week after he "became mentally ill," according to documents provided to The Associated Press.

China had long insisted that all POW questions were answered at the conclusion of the war in 1953 and that no Americans were moved to Chinese territory from North Korea. The little-known case of Army Sgt. Richard G. Desautels, of Shoreham, Vt., opens another chapter in this story and raises the possibility that new details concerning the fate of other POWs may eventually surface.

Chinese authorities gave Pentagon officials intriguing new details about Desautels in a March 2003 meeting in Beijing, saying they had found "a complete record of 9-10 pages" in classified archives.

Until now, this information had been kept quiet; a Pentagon spokesman said it was intended only for Desautels' family members. The details were provided to Desautels' brother, Rolland, who passed them to a POW-MIA advocacy group, the National Alliance of Families, which gave them to AP this week.

In a telephone interview Thursday, the brother said he did not follow up on the information he got in 2003 because he did not believe it. He was not aware it marked the first time China had acknowledged taking a U.S. POW from North Korea into Chinese territory or burying an American there.

Two months after the March 2003 meeting, the Pentagon office responsible for POW-MIA issues sent Rolland Desautels a brief written summary of what a Chinese army official had related about the case.

"According to the Chinese, Sgt. Desautels became mentally ill on April 22, 1953, and died on April 29, 1953," the summary said. It added that he had been buried in a Chinese cemetery but the grave was moved during a construction project "and there is no record of where Desautels' remains were reinterred."

The reported circumstance of Desautels' death — sudden mental illness — may sound improbable. But the key revelation — that he was taken from North Korea to a city in northeastern China and then buried — matches long-held U.S. suspicions about China's handling, or mishandling, of American POWs during and after the war.

It raises the possibility that wartime Chinese records could shed light on the fate of other U.S. captives who were known to be held in Chinese-run POW camps but did not return when the fighting ended in 1953.

And it appears to undercut the Pentagon's public stance that China returned all POWs it held inside China. The Pentagon has focused more on the related issue of China's management of POW camps inside North Korea during the war, which Chinese troops entered in the fall of 1950 on North Korea's side.

Desautels' reported burial site — the city of Shenyang, formerly known as Mukden — is interesting because it is far from the North Korean border and was often cited in declassified U.S. intelligence reports as the site of one or more prisons holding hundreds of American POWs from Korea. Some U.S. reports referred to Mukden as a possible transshipment point for POWs headed to Russia.

Desautels was an 18-year old corporal, a member of A Company, 2nd Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, when his unit encountered a swarming Chinese assault near Kunu-ri, North Korea, on Dec. 1, 1950. According to a Pentagon account, Desautels and his fellow captives were marched north to a POW compound known as Camp 5, near Pyoktong, on the North Korean side of the border with China.

Subsequent events are a bit fuzzy, but Desautels was moved among prison camps and apparently was used by the Chinese army as a truck driver. A number of U.S. POWs told American interrogators after their release from captivity that they had seen Desautels alive and well in Camp 5.

One who said he spent four months with Desautels said that in March 1952 Desautels said that if he should disappear, others should make inquiries with the proper military authorities. Numerous returned POWs said Desautels had spent several months inside China before being returned to Camp 5 in 1952.

Rolland Desautels, 81, recalls his older brother as "a strong character who came off the farm," enlisted in the Army at age 17 and was stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., before being shipped to Korea in August 1950, two months after the war began with North Korea's invasion of the South.

The Pentagon has taken an interest in the Desautels case for many years. A June 1998 Pentagon cable to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said the case was one of several on which China should be pushed to provide answers, that "we believe the Chinese should be able to account for these individuals."

Now it turns out that China did provide an accounting, although it is incomplete and was kept under wraps for five years.

Larry Greer, a spokesman for the POW-MIA office at the Pentagon, said Thursday that although U.S. officials asked to see the 9-10 page file on Desautels, China has yet to provide it or additional information.

Mark Sauter, an author and researcher on the subject of POWs from the Korean War, said in an interview that Beijing authorities are to be commended for finally providing useful information.

"The case of Sgt. Desautels has been a focal point of a six-decade cover-up by the Chinese government," Sauter said. "This is the first crack in the dike. From what we can tell, the Pentagon has not aggressively followed up, either on the Desautels case or those of hundreds of other Americans for whom the Chinese should be able to account."

American officials believed from the earliest days of the armistice that concluded the Korean War without a formal peace treaty in July 1953 that the Chinese and North Koreans withheld a number of U.S. POWs, possibly in retaliation for U.S. refusal to repatriate those Chinese and North Korean POWs who chose not to be returned to their home country out of fear of retribution.

Gen. Mark W. Clark, the American commander of U.S.-led forces during the final stages of the Korean War, wrote in a 1954 account that "we had solid evidence" that hundreds of captive Americans were held back by the Chinese and North Koreans, possibly as leverage to gain a China seat on the U.N. Security Council.

Over time, however, U.S. officials muted their concerns, while periodically pressing the Chinese in private. Publicly, the Pentagon's stance today is that China returned all the U.S. POWs it held.

"Some U.S. POWs spent time across the (Yalu) river in Manchuria, but to the best of our knowledge, all have returned," the Pentagon's POW/MIA office says in a summary of wartime POW camps.

(AP)

Hussein chose winning over "change".


WASHINGTON - Barack Obama chose winning over his word.

The Democrat once made a conditional agreement to accept taxpayer money from the public financing system, and accompanying spending limits, if his Republican opponent did, too.

No more.

The chance to financially swamp John McCain — and maneuver for an enormous general election advantage — proved too great an allure.

Obama, a record-shattering fundraiser, reversed course Thursday and decided to forgo some $85 million so he could raise unlimited amounts of money and spend as much as he wants.

"It's not an easy decision, and especially because I support a robust system of public financing of elections," Obama said in announcing that despite his previous commitment, he would rely only on private donations because "the public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken."

And with that, the first-term Illinois senator tarnished his carefully honed image as a different kind of politician — one who means what he says and says what he means — while undercutting his call for "a new kind of politics."

McCain, for his part, painted the issue as a character test, saying: "This election is about a lot of things. It's also about trust. It's about keeping your word."

Not that the Arizona senator has much room to talk. He, too, has cast himself as a reformer who tells it like it is but his words and actions sometimes conflict with that identity.

Overall, the race between Obama and McCain amounts to an authenticity contest.

Voters are craving change from typical Washington ways and each candidate is claiming he offers a new brand of politics that transcends poisonous partisanship. Yet, each candidate, in what he says versus what he does, also is undermining his own promises not to become the politics of usual.

McCain, for instance, opposed President Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. Now, as a White House hopeful in 2008, he supports them; he says doing otherwise would amount to a tax increase. He also long advocated an eventual path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants. Then, while in the GOP primary, he emphasized securing the borders first; he says he listened to the public outcry and a defeated Senate bill.

The Republican also rails against special interests, yet he has faced criticism for having former lobbyists at his campaign's helm. And, just this week, McCain assailed Obama for proposing a windfall profits tax on oil, despite saying last month he would consider the same proposal.

"McCain's a four-star flip-flopper," said Chris Kofinis, a Democratic operative who worked for John Edwards in the primary. "The John McCain of 2000 wouldn't vote for the John McCain of 2008."

True or not, Republicans were quick to pound Obama over his money announcement.

"'Change We Can Believe In' has been thrown overboard for 'Political Expediency I Can Win With,'" said Todd Harris, a Republican analyst and aide to former presidential candidate Fred Thompson in the primary. "Every time Obama's change rhetoric meets his actual change record it evaporates in a cloud of hypocrisy."

Last year, as Obama competed against fundraising behemoth Hillary Rodham Clinton and before his fundraising prowess was evident, Obama proposed that both major party general election nominees agree to stay in the public financing system.

In a November 2007 questionnaire, Obama answered "yes" when asked: "If you are nominated for president in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?" He added: "I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election."

Then, Obama raised enormous sums — and he started backing away from that position.

McCain, however, had indicated he would go along with the proposal and, since clinching the GOP nomination, has been trying to hold Obama to his commitment. Obama "said he would stick to his word. He didn't," McCain complained Thursday, and then told reporters in Minnesota, "We will take public financing."

Obama made his announcement as McCain was in the Democrat's hometown of Chicago — where McCain had come to raise money.

Obama's decision also came one day before the candidates were required to report their May fundraising totals.

The move could be the death-knell for the post-Watergate federal financing system designed to lessen the large donors' influence and reduce corruption.

It certainly will give Obama an extraordinary advantage over McCain and Republicans who have struggled to match Democratic fundraising this election cycle. Within hours, Obama showed his financial might by rolling out a 60-second television ad in 18 states, including several that have been reliable GOP strongholds.

Obama made the money announcement in a video message to supporters — and sought to empower them to give more.

"You've fueled this campaign with donations of $5, $10, $20, whatever you can afford," Obama said in an appeal seeking donations from $25 to $2,300 and beyond.

"Let's build the first general election campaign that's truly funded by the American people," Obama said — ignoring the fact that the system he's opting out of is paid for by taxpayers who donate $3 to the fund when they file their tax returns.

Obama blamed his decision in part on McCain and "the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups." But he failed to mention that the only outside groups running ads in earnest so far are those aligned with Obama — and running commercials against McCain.


So much for being a straight shooter.

(AP)

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Make-up tools: Me by Mezhgan Makeup Brushes


Okay this is a really great idea. Make-up brushes that are double-sided are a must-have for jetsetters. You don't need a ginormous make-up kit the next time you go out and travel! Get three of these and you really have six, and you can just stuff 'em in your purse!

Shock: Manbearpig is a huge hypocrite

Energy Guzzled by Al Gore’s Home in Past Year Could Power 232 U.S. Homes for a Month

Gore’s personal electricity consumption up 10%, despite “energy-efficient” home renovations

NASHVILLE - In the year since Al Gore took steps to make his home more energy-efficient, the former Vice President’s home energy use surged more than 10%, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.

“A man’s commitment to his beliefs is best measured by what he does behind the closed doors of his own home,” said Drew Johnson, President of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. “Al Gore is a hypocrite and a fraud when it comes to his commitment to the environment, judging by his home energy consumption.”


In the past year, Gore’s home burned through 213,210 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 232 average American households for a month.

In February 2007, An Inconvenient Truth, a film based on a climate change speech developed by Gore, won an Academy Award for best documentary feature. The next day, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research uncovered that Gore’s Nashville home guzzled 20 times more electricity than the average American household.

After the Tennessee Center for Policy Research exposed Gore’s massive home energy use, the former Vice President scurried to make his home more energy-efficient. Despite adding solar panels, installing a geothermal system, replacing existing light bulbs with more efficient models, and overhauling the home’s windows and ductwork, Gore now consumes more electricity than before the “green” overhaul.

Since taking steps to make his home more environmentally-friendly last June, Gore devours an average of 17,768 kWh per month –1,638 kWh more energy per month than before the renovations – at a cost of $16,533. By comparison, the average American household consumes 11,040 kWh in an entire year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

In the wake of becoming the most well-known global warming alarmist, Gore won an Oscar, a Grammy and the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition, Gore saw his personal wealth increase by an estimated $100 million thanks largely to speaking fees and investments related to global warming hysteria.

“Actions speak louder than words, and Gore’s actions prove that he views climate change not as a serious problem, but as a money-making opportunity,” Johnson said. “Gore is exploiting the public’s concern about the environment to line his pockets and enhance his profile.”

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, a Nashville-based free market think tank and watchdog organization, obtained information about Gore’s home energy use through a public records request to the Nashville Electric Service.

(PatDollard.Com)

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Cindy McCain vs. Michelle Obama

My boyfriend and I broke-up so he can run back to his environmentalist/global warming advocate of an ex-girlfriend. That's fine, he just couldn't keep up with me, and I totally understand that. Last night sucked, and I cried way too much, but there's a new day ahead and I feel so much better already!

I am so buying 3 more bottles of Dior Addict lipgloss.

From PatDollard: Cindy McCain And Michelle Hussein: Polar Opposites

Michelle Obama in highschool!


AFP

Both fervently support their husbands on the campaign trail; both are financially independent; and both get acknowledged in the fashion world for their elegance.

But the similarities between Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama, one of whom is likely to become the next US first lady in January, end there.

The more discreet Cindy McCain, 54, is heard mostly when she introduces her husband, Republican Senator John McCain, ahead of his presidential campaign speeches, wishing him well as she hands him the microphone.

Last week she told New York television NY1 in a rare interview that she sees her role in the background, now, and if and when John McCain wins the White House.

“I do not ever envision myself as being involved in the McCain administration, as it’s been put, but my husband and I do talk and I want to be a part of listening to his ideas, too,” she said.

Blonde and blue-eyed, petite and composed, the former beauty queen is a businesswoman who inherited her family’s large beer distribution empire and also oversees a number of philanthropic projects, some financed by her family foundation.

She married McCain, 18 years her senior, in 1980, weeks after he divorced the mother of his three first children.

They then had three children of their own, and in 1991 adopted a fourth, Bridget, a Bangladeshi girl orphaned in a cyclone.

Despite her low-key role, Cindy McCain has endured her share of nasty attacks.


Cindy McCain in Vogue

During her husband’s 2000 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination against George W. Bush, critics brought up her three-year addiction to prescription painkillers in the early 1990s.

More devastatingly, her husband’s opponents spread rumors that Bridget was the fruit of an adulterous union between John McCain and a black woman.

For a time in this year’s campaign she was pressed over not disclosing her personal income, as Barack and Michelle Obama and John McCain had done.

After insisting that it was a personal issue, last month she finally disclosed that she had earned six million dollars in 2006 — some 17 times her husband’s income and much more than the Obamas as well.

In February she made an uncustomary but biting jab at her opposite, Michelle Obama, who had come under attack for saying, regarding the surge of support for her husband, “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country.”

As Obama’s opponents calling his wife unpatriotic, Cindy McCain staked out her own stance:

“I always have been and will always be extremely proud of my country,” she said in a campaign appearance.

The episode underscored how Michelle Obama, 44, is already a big target in her husband’s campaign.

Trim and athletic, the mother of two daughters seven and nine, and in high heels nearly as tall as her husband, Michelle Obama is characterized by his foes as an angry black radical.

From a lower middle class family deeply rooted in Chicago’s black community, like her husband she went to an Ivy-League university — Princeton — and then on to prestigious Harvard Law School.

Weeks ago Barack Obama already took note of the apparent target on Michelle’s back.

“These folks should lay off my wife,” he said, to little effect.

Still circulating is the rumor that she made a speech using the denigrating term “whitey” in reference to Caucasians.

The conservative magazine National Review recently branded her “Mrs Grievance… America’s unhappiest millionaire.”

And on cable television’s Fox News in recent days, an anchor asked if her fist-to-fist smack victory gesture with her husband was a terrorist sign.

Fox followed that up days later by referring to her as “Obama’s baby Mama” — using a slang phrase that brands her an unwed mother.

Fox was pushed to apologize for the comments, but under that kind of attack, Barack Obama’s campaign has now put up a website just to dispel false stories about both of them, including a denial of the “whitey” comment.

Even so, she appears likely to play a more up-front White House role than Cindy McCain, if her husband wins the November 4 presidential election.

“She’s smarter, she’s tougher, and definitely more attractive than me,” Barack Obama says regularly.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Another Shillary supporter for McCain!



Update:
Hot Air: Wisconsin DNC delegate announces for McCain

Debra Bartoshevich has rattled the Wisconsin Democratic Party with her decision to support another candidate besides the nominee, Barack Obama. The Hillary Clinton supporter won’t vote for Obama but for John McCain after Hillary’s withdrawal — and she insists that she’s not going to change her mind before the general election:

As an avid supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries, Debra Bartoshevich is not alone in her frustration over Clinton’s defeat.

She’s not alone in refusing to support Barack Obama.

And she’s not entirely alone in saying she’ll vote this fall for Republican John McCain instead.

But what makes her unusual is that she holds these views as an elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer.

People don’t become delegates by accident. Delegates get selected from a pool of people dedicated to party activism, which is what makes Bartoshevich so unusual. When someone who has put that much energy into the party decides to support the other party’s candidate, that says something about the dissatisfaction — at least as experienced by Bartoshevich.

The question will be whether more Democratic delegates chosen for Hillary Clinton follow her example. I tend to think that a number of factors will keep more from doing so, especially social factors. Bartoshevich will likely become a pariah within her district for quite some time, and her participation in politics will get met with a lot less enthusiasm than before.

Wisconsin may be embarrassed, but the most likely outlet for other disenchanted delegates will be to stay quiet — and shift their votes privately.

Make-up: Ooh-la-lash!

Mascara:

Dior Ultimeyes Mascara. Gives you long, clean lashes that don't look clumped up together. It won't leave you with gooey lashes, that's for sure! The brush is perfect and lashes are separated and defined with just one stroke. Your friends will probably think you're wearing falsies- that's how good this product is. My only problem with it is it's shelf-life. It seems pretty short, as the substance tends to dry up just after a couple of weeks. (Also see: DiorShow Mascara!! Another great product!)

If you are looking for a good lengthening mascara, then this is it. Don't expect to see a lot of volume on your lashes after applying a coat or two. Or three. Or four. Telescopic was created to simply add length to your lashes while retaining that natural look (that better you look!). The brush isn't the best out there- it's a flexi-brush that allows you to reach even the smallest lash hair, but it tends to create small globs of mascara, so you have to go through the fuss of combing through it until the goo is gone. Still a good product though. Washes off easily too!

L'Oreal Double Extension Mascara. This mascara comes with a primer- you know that white stuff everyone thinks is such a fuss to put on? If you have short lashes or simply need better volume, then this product is for you. It can work miracles if you don't get too much goo on your eyes! So just make sure that you are not overloading the primer, or you're bound to get clumpy lashes. One huge problem with this product is its shelf-life. It dries up just after a couple of weeks, but it can give you the thickest lashes you could hope for.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Idiots from PETA.

From PatDollard.Com:


Photo by Mike Brown / The Commercial Appeal

Ashley Byrne, a Washington, D.C.-based campaign coordinator with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), talks with Memphis police officers during a recent demonstration outside City Hall that coincided with World Vegetarian Week. When officers inquired about the well-being of intern Shawn Herbold (bottom) and volunteer Thomas Olsen, a sweat-soaked Herbold replied that she was in pain and feeling nauseated from the heat after being wrapped in cellophane for 30 minutes, and also asked how much longer she needed to stay there. Byrne let her know it wouldn’t be much longer and left her under the hot afternoon sun for 30 minutes more while debating with the officers. PETA would never treat a cow that way, but I guess it’s OK for an intern. Many organizations that focus on extremes could take note that leading through example makes more impact than demonstrating with hypocrisy. “1,000 Words” is a weekly pictorial commentary on events in Greater Memphis and around the world. Today’s “1,000 Words” was written by Mike Brown, a photographer for The Commercial Appeal.

Make-up: Chanel Eclat Lumiere Highlighter Face Pen

So I went over to a Chanel counter a couple of days ago and got this. I only use it when I feel like impressing my boyfriend. lol! It really does add more radiance to your make-up, but you can also wear it alone. How to use: In a single stroke, create a thin trail of liquid highlighter above the line of your cheekbone, then blend using your fingers. Dust on a little shimmer powder to add more glow. You can also use this on the bone below your eyebrow to make your eyes pop out- by the way, this is what they used on Kiera Knightley in one of her Chanel ads! -or down the center of your nose and the line above your jaw.


So what's another good thing about this product? It can lighten up those ugly dark circles under your eyes. I love everything about Chanel- except their dang lipgloss. I have to keep re-applying it because it doesn't stay on for too long! I can finish a whole bottle in a nanosecnd! One sip of Coke Light and it's gone! =(

Supreme Court hands victory to Jihadists

This is just horrible. And Justice Scalia said it best:

Today the Court warps our Constitution in a way that goes beyond the narrow issue of the reach of the Suspension Clause, invoking judicially brainstormed separation-of-powers principles to establish a manipulable “functional” test for the extraterritorial reach of habeas corpus (and, no doubt, for the extraterritorial reach of other Constitutional protections as well). It blatantly misdescribes [sic] important precedents, most conspicuously Justice Jackson’s opinion for the Court in Johnson v. Eisentrager. It breaks a chain of precedent as old as the common law that prohibits judicial inquiry into detentions of aliens abroad absent statutory authorization. And, most tragically, it sets our military commanders the impossible task of proving to a civilian court, under whatever standards this Court devises in the future, that evidence supports the confinement of each and every enemy prisoner.

The Nation will live to regret what the Court has done today. I dissent.

(More at Hotair)

AP: Court says detainees have rights, bucking Bush

WASHINGTON - In a stinging rebuke to President Bush's anti-terror policies, a deeply divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign detainees held for years at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have the right to appeal to U.S. civilian courts to challenge their indefinite imprisonment without charges.

Bush said he strongly disagreed with the decision — the third time the court has repudiated him on the detainees — and suggested he might seek yet another law to keep terror suspects locked up at the prison camp, even as his presidency winds down.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the 5-4 high court majority, acknowledged the terrorism threat the U.S. faces — the administration's justification for the detentions — but he declared, "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times."

In a blistering dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia said the decision "will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed."

Bush has argued the detentions are needed to protect the nation in a time of unprecedented threats from al-Qaida and other foreign terrorist groups. The president, in Rome, said Thursday, "It was a deeply divided court, and I strongly agree with those who dissented." He said he would consider whether to seek new laws in light of the ruling "so we can safely say to the American people, 'We're doing everything we can to protect you.'"

Kennedy said federal judges could ultimately order some detainees to be released, but he also said such orders would depend on security concerns and other circumstances. The ruling itself won't result in any immediate releases.

The decision also cast doubt on the future of the military war crimes trials that 19 detainees, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other alleged Sept. 11 plotters, are facing so far. The Pentagon has said it plans to try as many as 80 men held at Guantanamo.

Lawyers for detainees differed over whether the ruling, unlike the first two, would lead to prompt hearings for those who have not been charged. Roughly 270 men remain at the prison at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. Most are classed as enemy combatants and held on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Some detainee lawyers said hearings could take place within a few months. But James Cohen, a Fordham University law professor who has two clients at Guantanamo, predicted Bush would continue seeking ways to resist the ruling. "Nothing is going to happen between June 12 and Jan. 20," when the next president takes office, Cohen said.

Roughly 200 detainees have lawsuits on hold in federal court in Washington. Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth said he would call a special meeting of federal judges to address how to handle the cases.

Detainees already facing trial are in a different category.

Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said Thursday's decision should not affect war crimes trials. "Military commission trials will therefore continue to go forward," Carr said.

The lawyer for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's one-time driver, said he will seek dismissal of the charges against Hamdan based on the new ruling. A military judge had already delayed the trial's start to await the high court ruling.

It was unclear whether a hearing at Guantanamo for Canadian Omar Khadr, charged with killing a U.S. Special Forces soldier in Afghanistan, would go forward next week as planned.


Charles Swift, the former Navy lawyer who used to represent Hamdan, said he believes the court removed any legal basis for keeping the Guantanamo facility open and that the military tribunals are "doomed."

Guantanamo generally and the tribunals were conceived on the idea that "constitutional protections wouldn't apply," Swift said. "The court said the Constitution applies. They're in big trouble."

Human rights groups and many Democratic members of Congress celebrated the ruling as affirming the nation's commitment to the rule of law. Several Republican lawmakers called it a decision that put foreign terrorists' rights above the safety of the American people.

The administration opened the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to hold enemy combatants, people suspected of ties to al-Qaida or the Taliban.

The prison has been harshly criticized at home and abroad for the detentions themselves and the aggressive interrogations that were conducted there.

At its heart, the 70-page ruling says that the detainees have the same rights as anyone else in custody in the United States to contest their detention before a judge. Kennedy also said the system the administration has put in place to classify detainees as enemy combatants and review those decisions is not an adequate substitute for the right to go before a civilian judge.

The administration had argued first that the detainees have no rights. But it also contended that the classification and review process was sufficient.

Chief Justice John Roberts, in his own dissent to Thursday's ruling, criticized the majority for striking down what he called "the most generous set of procedural protections ever afforded aliens detained by this country as enemy combatants."

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas also dissented.

Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul Stevens — the court's more liberal members — joined Kennedy to form the majority.

Souter wrote a separate opinion in which he emphasized the length of the detentions.

"A second fact insufficiently appreciated by the dissents is the length of the disputed imprisonments; some of the prisoners represented here today having been locked up for six years," Souter said. "Hence the hollow ring when the dissenters suggest that the court is somehow precipitating the judiciary into reviewing claims that the military ... could handle within some reasonable period of time."

Scalia, citing a report by Senate Republicans, said at least 30 prisoners have returned to the battlefield following their release from Guantanamo.

Make-up: L'oreal True Match Mineral Powder

Everyone's so into mineral make-up these days and I can see why. I got sucked into the craze when L'oreal held a sale on some of its products, including their True Match Mineral Powder. All I can say is I'm glad I bought it even though it's not 100% awesome.


It gives good coverage if you apply it correctly (circular motion, baby) and it stays on for most of the day. I must admit though, when I first tried the product, it made my skin look cakey (my skin can get pretty oily), but I solved that oh-so hideous problem by applying mineral primer before dabbing on some powder. The only problem I have left with this is the brush. The size is perfect but it feels hard and rough on the skin. That's why I choose to use my Chanel blending brush instead. Laura Mercier also has a nice mineral primer brush made of goat hair.

I haven't tried L'oreal's mineral blush line, but I purchased one from Revlon and all I can say is... it kind of sucks. It's messy to put on and the brush that comes with it is worthless. The color range is disappointing and it doesn't stay on forever. Another reason why I'm not a huge Revlon fan.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Don't Expect a Big Change in U.S. Foreign Policy


Want more George W. Bush foreign policy? Elect John McCain – or Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Regardless of who wins in November, the current foreign policy will live on in the next White House.

None of the main candidates has disavowed the war on terror. Each has called Mr. Bush tactically deficient. But the debate over the war on terror is over how, where and when. The candidates have all argued that they would do a better job of fighting it.

Administrations bequeath foreign policies to their successors that are then tweaked, but rarely transformed. The seeds of Ronald Reagan's Cold War strategy were sown in the defense buildup of the later Jimmy Carter years. President Bush's purported "obsession" with Baghdad began in the hawkish statecraft of Vice President Al Gore. In 1998, Bill Clinton made regime change official U.S. policy, and in 2003 Mr. Bush made it a reality.

The last great liberal hope to win the White House – Bill Clinton – committed more troops to more parts of the globe than any president since World War II. Since the end of the Cold War, America has undertaken at least nine military interventions overseas, under three presidents of both parties in two distinct historical eras (pre- and post-9/11). This history suggests that the next great liberal hope – Mr. Obama or Mrs. Clinton – would probably continue the trend.

Furthermore, the departure of Mr. Bush will hardly leave the nation's foreign relationships in tatters. Despite much American introspection, Euro-liberal sniping and Latin American leftist fantasizing, the quantity and quality of America's formal friendships have endured, if not actually increased, since 2001. Eighty-four governments, out of a world total of some 192, are formally allied with the U.S.

Foreign leaders such as France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel clearly see that their true interest resides in maintaining and renewing their relationships with the U.S. Few governments have prospered by severing such bonds. In Asia as well, nations are looking to strengthen their ties to America. China needs the U.S. market. India is moving toward America, not away.

The number of America's foes hasn't grown under the Bush administration. The actual number of our enemies can be counted on one hand: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela. With the exception of the latter, all these enmities predate Mr. Bush and his successor will inherit them.

Certain aspects of anti-Americanism are essentially immune to what any president does. The U.S. can bomb Christians to protect Muslims, as it did in Bosnia in 1994-1995 and Serbia in 1999, and still somehow augment the fury of radical Islamists.

It's also important to remember that we're winning the war in Iraq. A President Obama would risk too much with a precipitous withdrawal, especially if it was just to fulfill an early campaign pledge that was adopted more to establish blue water between him and Mrs. Clinton than to reformulate the war on terror. Mr. Obama's opposition to the Iraq war is empirical – "it didn't work" – rather than ideological.

Mr. Obama is capable of changing his position to reflect events on the ground. He is not dedicated to a peacenik vision of immediate withdrawal. He will not desert Iraq if doing so puts U.S. national security at risk.

The desire to get rid of George W. Bush will not make his replacement any less vociferous and committed to the current president's pursuit of American prosperity and security. As such, rising expectations in and outside America for rapid foreign-policy transformation are likely to lead to disappointment. As a Romanian proverb reminds us: "A change of leaders is the joy of fools."

Messrs. Lynch and Singh, academics at the University of London, are the authors of "After Bush: The Case for Continuity in American Foreign Policy" (Cambridge University Press, 2008).


(WSJ)