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Photocopy of Soliloquy VII by Sam Taylor-Wood, found at Artnet
On Nov. 5 at the Woodley Park home of D.C. lobbyists Tony and Heather Podesta, Soliloquy VII (picture above), British artist Sam Taylor-Wood's eight-foot-tall color photo of a nude man lying on his back, one of collectibles worth of $250,000, was taken down at Hillary Clinton Fundraiser tea party where 250 women were invited to attend. While some guessed that politically correct Clintonites had demanded that the naked guy disappear, the Democratic elite Podestas said the picture was taken down a year ago for "conservation reasons." Click here to read the full Washington Post story. Tags:
Spain King Juan Carlos' recent undiplomatic outburst at the Venezuelan president Hugo Charvez has become a ringtone hit across Spain.
BBC said that an estimated 500,000 people have downloaded the insult featuring the words "Why don't you shut up?"("por que no te callas?" in Spanish), generating a reported 1.5m euros ($2m). Tags:
Frances Townsend, President Bush's top White House-based adviser on terrorism and homeland security, has resigned, reported AP. The report didn't say the reasons of Fran Townsend's stepping down. Townsend was appointed to this position on May 28, 2004.
In a statement issued by Bush to praise Townsend, he said, "Townsend has ably guided the Homeland Security Council. She has played an integral role in the formation of the key strategies and policies my administration has used to combat terror and protect Americans." Link
Michael Mukasey, a retired federal judge, has been confirmed as the United States' newest attorney general by a vote of 53-40 in the Senate despite difference over his position on the legality of harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects. Mukasey's predecessor Alberto Gonzales resigned on August 27.Link Tags:
Kathleen Willey, is a former White House Aide who accuses the former president Bill Clinton groping her in the Oval Office. Her new book, Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton, containing explosive revelations on Clintons has been released today. The book definitely has some negative effects on Hillary Clinton's 2008 President campaigns, from
Earthtimes.orgWilley's book contains explosive revelations that could damage Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, including accusations of campaign finance violations and new revelations about harassment and threats by the Clintons and their associates. Willey also identifies the person who threatened her just prior to her testimony against President Clinton -- a man who turned out to be linked to the Clintons.
Last September, Willey was the target of an unusual house burglary that nabbed a manuscript for her book, while little else was taken from her rural Virginia home. The break-in, she said, reminded her of the widely reported incident 10 years ago in which she was threatened near the same Richmond-area home by a stranger just two days before she was to testify against President Clinton in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case. Willey believes the recent break-in and theft were prompted by the teasers of her book's contents published that week in U.S. News and World Report's "Washington Whispers" column and the New York Daily News. Willey says she wrote the book because of persistent misunderstanding about what happened 10 years ago.
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Cristina Fernandez de kirchner photo: Wikipedia
Cristina Fernandez de kirchner, the wife of Argentinian current President Néstor Kirchner, is a long time senator for Buenos Aires Province. In July 2007 she was officially confirmed as the ruling Front for Victory party's candidate for the presidency of Argentina in the general election scheduled for October 28, 2007.
According to 10 different polls published today Oct. 21, Cristina Fernandez would receive more than 45 per cent of the vote or exceed 40 per cent with a lead of more than 10 percentage points over the second-place finisher, a wide enough margin to win in a first round of voting.
If elected, Fernández de Kirchner would become Argentina's second female president, but the first to be elected. Link
Update: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, called the new Evita or Argentina's Hillary Clinton, has won the Argentine elections on Sunday, October 28, becoming the first of the famous first ladies to win the presidential election and the first elected woman president in the country's history.
Bobby Jindal, 36, a son of Indian immigrant, has been elected as Governor of Louisiana during a Louisiana election held on October 20. Bobby Jindal, born as Piyush Jindal, created history as he is the youngest governor, the first Indian-American governor, the first South-Asian governor, and the first non-white governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction. Bobby Jindal is a Roman Catholic and conservative Republican/Senate who is "100 percent against abortion, no exceptions".
AP photo: Bobby Jindal, celebrates Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007 with his wife Supriya Jindal and his son Shaan Jindal in Baton Rouge, La.
Jindal married Supriya Jolly, a graduate of Tulane University majoring in chemistry, in 1997. And the couple couple has three children, Celia, Shaan, and Slade.
Sources: Jindal Wins Race for Louisiana @ NDTV.com Bobby Jindal @ Wikipedia
Links to Bobby Jindal's Blog, Flickr, Myspace, Facebook and Youtube sites and U.S. Representative Bobby Jindal page.
On the just concluded 17th National National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Zeng Qinghong who is a key assistant/ally of former President Jiang Zeming, has been voted out the CPC central committee. Mr. Zeng, together with two other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 16th CPC Central Committee Wu Guanzheng, and Luo Gan, will not be elected to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 17th CPC Central Committee, the top decision-making body of Chinese politics. His retirement was widely considered a sign that President Hu Jintao is solidifying his grip on the country's political system. Link
Former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto returned to her motherland after 8 years of self-imposed exile. It was estimated that there were about 150,000 supporters welcoming Bhutto at Karachi.
Bhutto, who fled the country in 1999 after being charged with corruption, is expected to share power with President Pervez Musharraf.
Link Update: On the way from Karachi Airport to the tomb of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Benazir Bhutto narrowly escaped a suicide bombing that shattered her homecoming procession and killed 126 people hours after she returned to Pakistan from exile pledging to fight extremism and promote democracy.
Update: Benazir Bhutto's (very fluent English) speech after assassination attempt:
When responding to a question about how seriously he believed Iran was pursuing a nuclear bomb following Russian President Vladimir Putin's assertion that he had seen no evidence Teheran was constructing nuclear weapons, Bush warned of "World War III" on Wednesday should Iran gain the know-how to build such a nuclear bomb.
"We got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," Bush told reporters at a White House press conference. "So I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
On Thursday, Iran rejected Bush's ''World War III'' warning as ''nothing more than a psychological war''
'This kind of remarks just reflects US anger over Iran's success in the international scenery and are nothing more than psychological war against Iran,'' the deputy head of the National Security Council, Rahman Fazli, told the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).
Source: Jerusalum Post and NDTV
Hillary Clinton deceives biggest campaign contributor Peter Paul, steals business partner, destroys company, plants false media stories, corrupts judiciary. Hillary's voice caught on tape amazing proof of purgery, obstruction of justice, corruption, direct involvement in felony fundraising. Crime on tape. Largest fraud in election history.
I think neither Hillary Clinton, nor Stepen Colbert should be elected as President of United States, but Ran Paul, the new Hope for US!
(Stephen Colbert picture: Danjohnston.org)
Having tossed his satirical hat into the ring of an already crowded race, Comedy Central comedian Stephen Colbert announced his candidacy for president on tonight's "The Colbert Report" .
"I shall seek the office of the President of the United States," announced Stephen Colbert. "After nearly 15 minutes of soul-searching, I have heard the call."
Maybe to choose to campaign in his native South Carolina, it's not a bad choice. But as he plans to run as both a Democrat and Republican, I think, he is doomed to "can lose twice."
Source: Stephen Colbert to Run for President @ AP
Pollution has reached epidemic proportions in China, in part because the ruling Communist Party still treats environmental advocates as bigger threats than the degradation of air, water and soil that prompts them to speak out. New York Times
Be shamed for what the Chinese government has done for Wu Lihong, an environmental activist from Yixing, Jiangshu Province:
The evidence against Mr. Wu Lihong consisted mainly of written testimony and his own confession. The judges rejected a request by Mr. Wu’s lawyer to summon prosecution witnesses for cross-examination.
Mr. Wu told the judges in open court that the police had deprived him of food and forced him to stay awake for five days and five nights in succession, relenting only when he signed a written confession. He said that the confession was coerced and that he was innocent. The judges ruled that since Mr. Wu could not prove that he had been tortured, his confession remained valid.
Mr. Wu lost his temper. “Since I was a child I have never broken the law,” he shouted, according to relatives who attended. “If I could right now, I would like to split you in two.” He was sentenced to three years.
Take a glimpse at how the local government typically cheats the central officials in China:
In 2001, Wen Jiabao, then a vice premier, now China’s prime minister, came to investigate reports of Lake Tai’s deterioration. Like most Communist Party inspection tours, word of this one reached local officials in advance. When Mr. Wen asked to see a typical dye plant, one was made ready, according to several people who witnessed the preparations.
The factory got a fresh coat of paint. The canal that ran beside it was drained, dredged and refilled with fresh water. Shortly before Mr. Wen’s motorcade arrived, workers dumped thousands of carp into the canal. Farmers were positioned along the banks holding fishing rods.
Mr. Wen spent 20 minutes there. A picture of him shaking hands with the factory boss hangs in its lobby.
Mr. Wu fired off an angry letter to Beijing recounting the ruse and warning the vice premier that he had been “deceived.” Mr. Wu circulated copies among his friends. Local officials saw it, too. Several villagers said they were warned then that they should keep a distance from Mr. Wu.
