Kerfuffles

Buzz Week in Review

by Vera H-C Chan

Below the purple haze of American politics, beyond the sheer historicity of Election Day, were events of passing significance. In other words, other things happened besides the U.S. elections. Take a breather from gloried events and muse over monsters from Mexico, excessive palimony payments, and literary figures who said goodbye.

The Creature From the Lake Resort The axolotl: so elusive, so slimy, so near extinction. USA Today examined the possible fate of Mexico City’s water monster, aka the Mexican walking fish. Scientists aim to save the creature, which has so far survived conquistadors, fishing, pollution, tourism, and singing gondoliers. The salamander has been the stuff of Aztec legend and Ogden Nash poetry, but may survive only another five years without help. People need way more time than that to practice pronouncing ACK-suh-LAH-tuhl.

The Realities of Romance Reality TV pseudo-celebrities decided this week “yes we can” and “no we can’t” when it came to matrimonial alliances. “The Bachelorette” DeAnna Pappas, once publicly rejected, did the spurning this time when she ended her engagement to Jesse Csincsak. The move also resulted in Pappas (metaphorically) shoving aside Rahm Emanuel as the fastest moving search term in the last seven days (+136,990%). “Girls Next Door” star Kendra Wilkinson, obviously so on the rebound from Hugh Hefner, announced her engagement to NFL wide receiver Hank Baskett. Lastly, Simon Cowell’s longtime gal pal Terri Seymour dumped the “American Idol” judge last week, but she burst into Buzz for getting a nearly $10 million parting gift. This should re-inflate Simon’s ego: The New Republic suggests Cowell “saved American democracy.” Now that’s surreal.

Epilogue: Literary Farewells Michael Crichton was the latest literary figure to pass on in the past few weeks. Cinematical honors the thriller author’s best seven onscreen translations. The author, who died of cancer at age 66, follows the departures of oral historian Studs Terkel, mystery writer Tony Hillerman, and New Age instigator Marilyn Ferguson.

Also buzzing… ? Soap star Lisa Rinna admits to plastic surgery overload. ? New Hampshire wants kids out of high school and into college by their sweet sixteen. ? OK, for the political junkies: Election Day

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Obama Starts Selling Out Israel ALREADY !!!

here’s an detail that should send shivers up the spine ofanyone who supports israel” washington [menl] — presidential-elect barack obama haspromised to improve u.s. relations with egypt and syria.aides said obama had sent senior foreign policy adviser robertmalley to egypt and syria over the last few weeks to outline theegalitarian candidate’s policy on the middle east. the aides saidmalley, who served in the administration of president bill clinton,relayed a pledge from obama that the united states would seekto embellish relations with cairo as well as reconcile with damascus.(h/t atlas shrugs)remember robert malley ? a few months ago when i wrote about him being large of obama’s anti-jew group and was blasted by the ny times (something i consider a great achievement). malley well-grounded yon the middle east at the foot of his father’s approving friend yassir arafat.as ed laskey described practically a year ago:through his writings he has served as a complaisant propagandist, bending the truth (and more) to serve an agenda that is prominent by anti-israel disposition; he heads a gather of middle east policy advisers for a think-tank funded (in part) by anti-israel billionaire activist george soros; and in this day is on the foreign policy staff of a leading presidential contender. each step up the ladder seems to be a step closer towards his goal of empowering radicals and weakening the ties between american and our unite israel.robert malley’s writings strike me as being akin to propaganda. one notable instance is an op-ed that was published in the new york times (fictions near the failure at camp david).the column indicted israel towards not being generous enough at affected david and blamed the failure of the talks on the israelis.malley has repeated this up for of attack in numerous op-eds over the years, time after time co-writing with hussein agha, a former cicerone to yasser arafat (see, for example, camp david: the adversity of errors ). he was also believed to be the chief source looking for an article by deborah sontag that whitewashed arafat’s role in the collapse of the peace process, an article that has been widely criticized as riddled with errors and bias. malley is a revisionist and his views are acerbically at odds with the views of others who participated at camp david, including ambassador dennis ross and president account clinton. malley’s myth-making has been peddled counterpunch and by norman finkelstein, the failed academic denied tenure at depaul university . m

Engaged to kill

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UK Lets Hezbollah Spokesman Into Country to Attend Seminar, Two Weeks After Saying Foreign Extremists Wouldn’t be Allowed to Enter Britain….

Adultswim

horror movies

If he was an anti-abortion activist you can bet your life he wouldn’t have been allowed to enter the country….. 

The British Home Office is under fire for allowing Hizbullah spokesman Ibrahim Mousawi to again enter the country. The visit comes only weeks after the home secretary announced new measures to prevent extremists from entering the United Kingdom.

Mousawi spoke at a week-long conference on political Islam at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) that ended on Friday. Last December he was also allowed to enter the UK to address a conference which was organized by a group with an anti-Israel agenda.

“The program has a wide range of speakers with diverse specialisms,” a spokesperson for SOAS said. “Mousawi was invited to participate animation movies in the program as he is a leading expert on Hizbullah. He had no problems in entering the UK.” On Tuesday Mousawi addressed the conference on “The cases of Hamas and Hizbullah” in which he spoke about the history, strategy and ideology of the terrorist organizations and on Hizbullah’s current politics vis-

Quest Software to Host Toad Virtual Expo 2008 for Oracle Database Professionals

/India PRwire/ - Quest Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: QSFT) today announced that it will host its first online Toad® tradeshow on Wednesday, November 12th from 6:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Attendees will have the the opportunity to attend live demonstrations and Q&A sessions with Quest experts, and the chance to load up on all of the latest Toad content free of charge.

“With more than one million users world wide, Toad for Oracle is considered the de-facto standard database tool for database developers and administrators, and we’re excited by the opportunity to host our first virtual tradeshow,” said Doug Williams, director of product marketing for database tools, Quest Software. “Whether you’re new to Toad for Oracle or a long-time user, this is the perfect event to connect with and learn from Oracle experts and the Toad community.”

Little big league

Conference sessions from Toad experts Steven Feuerstein, Jeff Smith and Michael Lumbard will include:

Following the sessions, participants can attend a live Q&A with the experts. Attendees can also visit the Resource Center to load up on the latest Toad-related white papers and technical briefs, or relax in the Virtual Lounge and network with other Toad users, product experts and product managers.

Additionally, Quest will be giving away an "I Heart Toad" bumper sticker every 15 minutes throughout the show, and at 2:00 p.m. PT, will hold the Toad Virtual Expo 2008 drawing for an Xbox 360. Users must be logged into the event to be eligible for any giveaways.

To register for Toad Virtual Expo 2008, please visit: http://events.unisfair.com/index.jsp?eid=316&seid=25

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Quest Software, Inc.

Quest Software, Inc., a leading enterprise systems management vendor, delivers innovative products that help organizations get more performance and productivity from their applications, databases, Windows infrastructure and virtual environments. Through a deep expertise in IT operations and a continued focus on what works best, Quest helps more than 100,000 customers worldwide meet higher expectations for enterprise IT. Quest provides customers with client management as well as server and desktop virtualization solutions through its subsidiaries, ScriptLogic and Vizioncore. Quest helps organizations deliver, manage and control complex database environments through award-winning products for Oracle, SQL Server, IBM DB2, Sybase and MySQL. Quest Software can be found in offices around the globe and at www.quest.com.

Quest, Quest Software, the Quest logo and Toad are trademarks or registered trademarks of Quest Software in the United States and certain other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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Cortex Command Build 22

Happy day! A new build of Cortex Command is out! This version features a ton of new additions, not the least of which is a completely new campaign mission that has you infiltrating a cave full of zombies to retrieve a data disk. Arne’s custom background graphics for this level are a-mazing.

Other additions include a 2x scaled-up windowed mode, a ton new actors and weapons, and improved AI. The movement and HUD seem to be a lot smoother to me, as well, although I think I missed a couple of builds in-between. Overall, though, it just feels a lot more polished.

But yeah, God, everything about this game – the style, the complexity – captures a lot of what made PC gaming fun for me back in the day. It’s great to see all the pieces really start to come together. Go grab it!

Sallie mae

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Zune 120GB Gears of War 2 Special Edition

Last year Microsoft launched their Halo 3 edition Zune in celebration of the release of what was one of the biggest Xbox 360 titles to date. This year they are doing it again with the release of the Zune Gears of War Special Edition Zune 120GB.

We got it in just in time to review for tomorrow’s big release date. The first thing that you will notice about this Zune is the custom painted graphic on the back, but that’s not all that you will be getting. This Zune has the full Gears of War 1 soundtrack along with nine Gears of War videos including trailers, behind the scene videos and teasers. On top of all this you also get 244 Gears of War images such as concept art, images of developers and more.

In the box there is pair of headphones with colored earpiece covers as well as a USB cable for charging and syncing music. The 120GB Microsoft Zune has even made Vincent’s top 10 list of holiday tech gifts this year. This special edition Zune would be a perfect addition to any gamer’s collection. For those of you who pre-ordered the Zune 160GB Gears of War 2 special edition bundle, this is your Zune. You can snatch one up on November 7th for $279 when you run out to buy the game. [Click to visit Zune Website]

click here to view the embedded video.

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Marcia G. Yerman: 11/5/08 - A Quiet Day

It’s over. The long primary season and the fight for the presidency are finished. Everything crystallized on the night of November 4th when Barack Obama took the stage with his wife and two young daughters. The scene felt like a contemporary version of 1960, when John F. Kennedy captured the imagination of the country. The nation was swept with a tide of idealism, and the belief that every individual could make a difference.

Now that excitement and euphoria have given way to quiet thoughts about the way that history works. There is the understanding that monumental events — a turning point, revelation, or even the life’s blood of some — becomes the stuff of textbooks for others.

Each person has a different reference point for the election of Barack Obama. A stream of consciousness went through my head. One of the thoughts included Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner - the three civil rights workers who went to Mississippi in 1964 to register black voters — and ended up being brutally murdered.

In an e-mail to my 14-year-old son, a Pennsylvania acquaintance he met on a trip wrote that if Obama were elected president, African-Americans would “have it so easy.” Disturbed by the remark he wrote back, “Obama is going to be the president for all Americans. I think your comment and the way you phrased it was racist.” It reminded me of how far we still have yet to go.

But it is a new dawn. The rest of the world is seeing America differently. We are seeing ourselves differently. That is a powerful start.

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Why Are We Voting Today ?

As we all head to the polls I thought it might be interesting to review exactly why we are voting today. By that I mean why is it that our national elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November ?

Well it may interest you to know that for the first 50 plus years of our nation that there was no uniform election day. The only requirement with regard to Presidential voting was that it occur during a 32 day period prior to December of the election year so that electors would have time to vote and get their ballots to the Congress in time.

As to voting for Congress, it could happen at any time and in some cases it actually took place in odd numbered years because the Congress generally did not meet until December.

Film du Jour: Trick-Or-Treat Dummy Halloween Prank

Scott Beale over at Laughing Squid (via Urban Prankster) came across this stupendous footage of the best Halloween prank we’ve seen in eons. Really, its brilliance lies in its simplicity. See, some guys from ExFilms went around to homes in San Diego, placing a costumed dummy in front of homes.

mean timmy is our four foot outrageous likeness all dressed up in his halloween kit holding a bag of candy. armed with a twosome of hidden cameras and a wireless microphone we overturn off to pull pranks in the neighborhood with our doctor kid trick or treating.

Also, where can we find a pom-pom hat like that, jack-o-lantern t-shirt lady? Gorgeous.

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Ted Stevens Can Vote for Himself

Many years ago, I lived in Fairbanks, Alaska as a kid — and I always felt on the frontier of civilization.

Julio cesar chavez jr

Not that much seems to have changed. Sarah Palin had a investigative report filed against her for abusing her authorities as governor and which was released by a unanimous panel dominated by Republicans — and yet, there is no legal sanction or punishment imposed for those abuses.

And now while some compulsive obsessive Republican poll watchers are spending more time trying to purge voting roles of convicted felons rather than getting new voters to participate in the franchise, Senator Ted Stevens — who is now convicted of a felony — has been issued a formal waiver allowing him to vote for himself.

This is just another chapter in our “who you know democracy.”

– Steve Clemons

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