XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World: 04/28/10

Wednesday, 28 April 2010

HaHA - Who is she Fooling? - Cover girl Nancy Pelosi looking rather ... airy in D.C. glossy - and WHY? -

If Kim Kardashian and Britney Spears get flak for airbrushing their photos, why not the speaker of the House?

If you haven't managed to score a copy of the May/June 2010 edition of Capitol File magazine (typically flanked on every table or bathroom at any D.C. social function) you'll notice the cover girl Nancy Pelosi looking particularly young.

Celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Ayman Hakki of Luxxery Medical Boutique in Waldorf, Md., said although he believes Pelosi has had work done (specifically Botox of the frown lines, fat injections, a mini face-lift), the image is not the product of additional plastic surgery.

“There is airbrushing around her eyes, her upper lid has been airbrushed to make it look like there is less fat on the inside,” Hakki told Yeas & Nays. “And there is airbrushing on the line of her jaw.”

He also noted her neck has been blended, and the lines on her face are very subtle.

Pelosi did not give the mag an exclusive photo op. The photos were purchased from Vintage Books and Anchor Books of Random House. Pelosi’s camp said the picture has not been airbrushed, and Capitol File did not respond for comment.

Reason number two not to go to Iran or Iraq - did anyone else notice ALL the cops torture involves SODOMY? -

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has disputed reports that accuse Iraq of torturing and abusing people in a secret prison.

"There are no secret prisons in Iraq at all,"Al-Maliki said in a Monday interview with state-run Al-Iraqiya TV.

Allegations of torture and abuse at the prison, named Muthanna, were first reported by The Los Angeles Times April 19. Amnesty International has urged Iraqi officials to investigate the claims.

Human Rights Watch released a report on the issue Tuesday, saying the detainees are routinely beaten, shocked and sodomized by their interrogators.

Al-Maliki continued to deny that there was a secret prison and called the reports "a smear campaign in which embassies and media organizations took part and it was perpetuated by Iraqi politicians because it serves their interests to say that there are secret prisons."

The prime minister said the Muthanna facility was not secret, it was publicly known and had seven judges working there.

He said there are a small number of cases of abuse in jails but he said that happens in all parts of the world. Al-Maliki said he knows that some members of parliament visited the facility and directed the inmates to make false accusations about torture and give themselves scars. The report by Human Rights Watch was based on interviews conducted with 42 prisoners who had been held at a secret facility in west Baghdad's old Muthanna airport since late 2009. The men were among 300 detainees who were transferred in recent weeks to another detention center after the existence of the Muthanna prison was revealed, Human Rights Watch said. Detainees interviewed by the human rights group this week said that while at the facility, they were handcuffed, blindfolded and hung upside down using two bars, one placed behind their calves and the other against their shins. They said they were then kicked and beaten with heavy cables by their interrogators, who also are said to have placed plastic bags over detainees' heads to cut off their air supply. Detainees also described multiple incidents of alleged sexual abuse, the group said.

Women with suntans are violating Islamic law and will be arrested in Iran - reason number one not to go to Iran -

Women with suntans are violating Islamic law and will be arrested in Iran, the capital city's police chief was reported by The Daily Telegraph as saying Wednesday.

"The public expects us to act firmly and swiftly if we see any social misbehavior by women, and men, who defy our Islamic values," Brigadier Hossien Sajedinia said.

"In some areas of north Tehran we can see many suntanned women and young girls who look like walking mannequins," he continued. "We are not going to tolerate this situation and will first warn those found in this manner and then arrest and imprison them."

The warning follows recent comments made by a hard-line Iranian cleric, who claimed women dressed in revealing clothing were disturbing young men and causing earthquakes.

A preacher has also told the residents of Iran's capital Tehran to leave the city.

"Go on the streets and repent for your sins. A holy torment is upon us. Leave town," said Ayatollah Aziz Khoshvaqt during a recent sermon in northern Tehran.

Boy Scouts of America announced it will offer two awards – a pin and a belt loop – for spending hours playing video games -

Cub Scouts: The term conjures images of kids doing stuff outside – hiking amid nature, tying knots or identifying which leaf will leave you scratching if used for the wrong purpose.

Well, times have changed. In a move that may horrify old-school former Scouts, the Boy Scouts of America has announced it will offer two awards – a pin and a belt loop – to boys who spend hours playing video games.

Yes, that’s right. Just picture a group of 8- to 10-year-olds huddled around not a campfire but a TV, that glowing box of complacency.

Apparently these new awards are geared toward making Scouts understand which games are appropriate for their age group, not just rewarding them for sitting around on their butts playing video games. Scouts also can work towards their pin by playing a video game that "helps you in your schoolwork."

But you still have to wonder if this isn’t a misguided attempt by the Cub Scouts to stay relevant by pandering to boys’ interests. Seems to me the Scouts should be getting kids outside and teaching them practical skills beyond the bubble of their everyday lives instead of how to read the back of a video game box.

It reminds me of some “Star Trek” episode where a civilization has become so reliant on technology that they have no practical know-how and can’t fix it when it breaks - picture Picard MacGyvering a computer with a paper clip so the planet doesn’t explode.

Those of you who were in the Scouts, what’s your take on this? Should today’s Cub Scouts be rewarded for playing video games? What badge or award were you most proud of earning?

WestJet employees mock traveller after losing her cat - Ludwig is missing at Pearson International Airport - since Monday! -

Julie Mannell snuggles with her cat Ludwig. The cat went missing at Pearson airport after its cage was dropped.

Julie Mannell's beloved cat Ludwig is missing at Pearson International Airport after his cage was knocked to the ground and opened while being loaded onto a conveyor belt.

To add insult to injury, WestJet baggage handlers mocked Ms. Mannell as she searched for him.

“I heard this meowing sound and I got all excited because I thought I’d found him," she told theToronto Star. "But it was just the WestJet baggage guys making sounds to mock me, making fun of me. Another guy said he could find Ludwig if he could just bring in a big dog. He thought that was quite funny.”

The insensitivity shown to this woman is unconscionable.

Ludwig is a living, breathing, sentient being who is, no doubt, absolutely terrified, not to mention hungry and dehydrated, somewhere in the bowels of Terminal 3.

To make matters worse, it was never Ms. Mannell's intention to place Ludwig in the baggage compartment in the first place. But WestJet officials in Montreal would not allow Ludwig to travel in the cabin with his owner because his carrier was not soft sided. Odd, considering that hard-sided carry-on luggage is permitted.

After paying an extra $50 for Ludwig's trip in the baggage compartment, Ms. Mannell believed her cat would be handled with care and arrive in Toronto safely.

And now she waits.

Toronto Animal Control has set humane traps at the airport, in hopes of luring Ludwig out, and WestJet has put up posters of the black-and-white feline. But poor Ludwig has been missing since Monday night and has yet to reappear.