China announces emergency pollution plan

China announces emergency pollution plan

Story Highlights

• Plan would institute odd/even license plate driving days for Tianjin, Hebei province
  
• Chinese Environmental Ministry drafted the plan with Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei province
  
• Beijing has one of the world's worst nitrogen dioxide levels, satellite images show
  
• BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Chinese officials announced an emergency plan to deal with Beijing's persistent pollution problem, as thousands of world-class athletes head toward the country for the start of the Olympic Games.
  

The plan, announced on Wednesday, calls for more factory closings, a complete halt to all construction projects and further reduction of the number of vehicles on the streets at any one time.

The measures would be implemented if forecasters see stagnant weather conditions 48 hours in advance.

The Chinese Environmental Ministry drafted the plan in conjunction with the cities of Beijing and Tianjin and Hebei province.

A draconian plan announced last week closed down a number of factories, shut down all outdoor construction sites and decreed that drivers could be on the roads based on their license plate number -- odd numbers on one day, even numbers the next.

But the plan failed to make a dent, and the air quality got worse, shrouding the capital like a heavy fog, choking people and choking off the sunlight. Watch images of the city before and after the July 20 plan »

The emergency plan would close an additional 105 factories in Beijing and more than 106 others outside the city. The plan would further restrict driving by preventing vehicles from being in operation if the last digit of the license plate number corresponds with the day of the month.

The plan would also institute odd/even driving days for Tianjin city. Odd/even driving days would also be put into effect in Hebei province, but only between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Wind and rain helped clear some of the gloomy gray haze on Tuesday, and meteorologists predicted that the Games, which begin on August 8 with the Opening Ceremony, would see cooler temperatures and less hazy skies.

A reading on Wednesday found that Beijing's pollution levels dropped by more than half over a 24-hour period to 44 on the index, the lowest reading since the July 20 plan took effect, according to The Associated Press. A reading below 50 is considered "good," AP reported, adding that a cooling wind and some rain helped sweep away pollutants.

The improvement in air quality reflects the effectiveness of those measures, AP cited Du Shaozhong, deputy director of Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau, as saying.

Authorities, however, wanted to take no chances and announced the emergency plan.

The capital and surrounding areas of northeastern China have the world's worst nitrogen dioxide levels, according to satellite images taken by the European Space Agency in 2005.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the chemical can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation, and may cause impaired lung function and increased respiratory infections.

SOURCE

Bye bye baggage claim

Bye bye baggage claim

With rising baggage fees, you could be better off shipping your luggage the next time you fly.
By Jessica Dickler, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The skyrocketing price of fuel has already made it costly to fly, but now getting your luggage on board is pricier too, causing some travelers to consider sending it separately.

On Tuesday, Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL, Fortune 500), the nation's third-largest carrier, announced that it will double its charge for checking a second bag on domestic flights from $25 to $50. Most major carriers already charge $25 to check a second suitcase, but they could follow Delta's lead and raise their fees as well.

Tack on charges for luggage that weighs over 50 pounds (a hefty $50 to $90 fee) or oversized bags (that's another $100 to $175) and you could be looking at some serious surcharges, not to mention schlepping.

That's why flyers are starting to consider shipping their baggage instead.

Luggage-free travel
If you pack ahead of time, FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500) and UPS (UPS, Fortune 500) will ship your luggage to anywhere in the United States for about as much as it would cost to check it.

For example, sending a 40-pound suitcase from New York to Disney World is about $50, including insurance up to $500(which airlines certainly don't offer). But this least expensive option takes about 5 days, and would require a little planning ahead. Three-day air and overnight are much pricier. Remote distances will also cost more, but FedEx.com and UPS.com have rate calculators that factor in distance, weight and travel time.

In addition to possible cost savings, delivery services have other potential advantages over airlines such as delivery confirmation and insurance for lost luggage. Despite the fact that they've begun charging for baggage services, airlines do not offer any of these services and will not refund your money if your luggage doesn't arrive with you.

But even if shipping your luggage is cheaper and more efficient than flying with it, there are some other considerations.

Before you ship, you should contact the hotel first to make sure they will accept luggage and can store it securely until your arrival, recommends Sally Davenport, a FedEx spokeswoman.

Neither UPS nor FedEx advocate sending your luggage to an international destination. Some countries won't accept packages containing personal affects and others have duties and taxes that could cost you. Plus, "there's no telling how long it will take," said a UPS spokeswoman.

Also, some of your items may never get off the ground. Aerosol sprays, perfume, cologne and nail polish remover are all considered dangerous goods and can't be shipped.

Another thing to consider is that these shipping services are not designed for luggage and sticky air bills can easily get dislodged from suitcase surfaces. Davenport recommends including an address bill inside the bag just in case the tag gets lost so your luggage can eventually be identified and returned.

If you don't want to worry about it, there are services that will do that for you. Houston-based Luggage Express will pick up your luggage right from your front door and a concierge will monitor it until it reaches your destination.

But all that customer service does come at a cost. Sending a medium-sized suitcase from New York to Orlando is a little more than $100 each way, although using the promotion code "gasbreak" will save 15% on deliveries before Sept. 30.

But if you're going to splurge, you might just consider bucking up for Business Class next time you fly. First Class and Business customers are able to check up to three bags at no charge.

OHH POLITICS

OHH POLITICS

FOR SALE. MF DOOM DUNK

FOR SALE. MF DOOM DUNK

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

IMG00280.jpg

IMG00280.jpg

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

GEMMA WARD PIC OF THE DAY

GEMMA WARD PIC OF THE DAY

Kanye West, Malik Yusef, Common: Wouldn't you like to ride

Kanye West, Malik Yusef, Common: Wouldn't you like to ride

BAND OF GYPSYS: WHO KNOWS......... best jimi song ever

BAND OF GYPSYS: WHO KNOWS......... best jimi song ever

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Nouvelle Vague

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Nouvelle Vague

Nouvelle Vague is a French musical collective led by musicians Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux. Their name is a play on words referring simultaneously to their "Frenchness" and "artiness" (the '60s new wave of cult French cinema), the source of their songs (all covers of punk rock, post-punk, and New Wave songs), and their use of '60s Bossa nova-style arrangements (bossa nova meaning "new wave" or "new beat" in Portuguese).
On their first album, Nouvelle Vague, the group resurrected classics from the New Wave music era, and reinterpreted them in a bossa nova style. The songs were stripped back to acoustic arrangements with lithe shaker rhythms achieved by gathering a parade of chanteuses from all over the world (six French, one Brazilian and one New Yorker) to cover bands including XTC, Modern English, The Clash, Joy Division and The Undertones. The various female singers on Nouvelle Vague only performed songs they had never heard before, to ensure that each cover would have a unique quality.

Their second album, Bande à Part, includes versions of "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" by Buzzcocks, "Blue Monday" by New Order, "The Killing Moon" by Echo and the Bunnymen and "Heart of Glass" by Blondie.
Members, former members and contributors include many French artists who are now very well known on their own and considered as part of what is now called the "Renouveau de la chanson française" (the "Renewal of French chanson"): Anaïs Croze, Camille Dalmais, Phoebe Killdeer, Mélanie Pain and Marina Céleste.

SOURCE

Lenny Kravitz ft. Jay Z: Storm

Lenny Kravitz ft. Jay Z: Storm

Consequence ft. Kanye West (his verse is fire): The Good The Bad The Ugly

Consequence ft. Kanye West (his verse is fire): The Good The Bad The Ugly

BUSH, THE MOVIE??!?

BUSH, THE MOVIE??!?

Pass the pretzels – it's Bush, the movie
He put Nixon and JFK on screen. Now Oliver Stone has a living President in his sights. As the trailer for 'W' goes viral, Tim Walker says this biopic shouldn't be misunderestimated

Is it a Saturday Night Live skit? Is it the Dead Ringers Christmas Special? No – it's the teaser trailer for W (pronounced, of course, "Dubya"), Oliver Stone's forthcoming film about the 43rd US President, George W Bush.

Stone is an obsessive chronicler of modern American history. In the past, he's given us movies about presidents, including the life of one (Nixon), and the death of another (JFK). He's done movies about US campaigns in El Salvador (Salvador) and Vietnam (Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Heaven & Earth); movies about the rise of unscrupulous capitalists (Wall Street), and the fall of the Twin Towers (World Trade Center). But W is a departure, even for him. A biopic of a sitting President, due for release on the eve of the next election, its producers even intend to advertise right alongside TV broadcasts for John McCain's campaign.

Stone has called the film "satire", "magic realism biography", but also "a fair, true portrait of the man". A leaked early draft of the script promises a story that jumps back and forth between Bush's dissolute youth and his time in office, from driving his car on to his parents' lawn and challenging his father to a fistfight, to almost choking to death on a pretzel while watching a football game, and telling the Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar that he's given up sweets since the start of the Iraq War, as a "personal sacrifice to show support for our troops". Is this comic material, or pure tragedy?

The teaser, which exploded across the internet this week, begins with a confrontation between George Sr and a young George Jr. "What are you cut out for?", the 41st president demands of his son. "Partying? Chasing tail? Driving drunk? What do you think you are, a Kennedy?"

The trailer takes us straight to the fun stuff – finding out who's playing who in Bush's infamous entourage. Leading the cast is Josh Brolin as W. The artist formerly known as Barbra Streisand's stepson is finally gaining the recognition he deserves, after participating in some of 2007's biggest critical hits, No Country For Old Men, In the Valley of Elah and American Gangster. He's a good choice for Bush; as the 90-second trailer demonstrates, he can play a range of ages, and although he's better looking than the President, he's a character actor, which means he can do likeable-but-flawed – perfect for Dubya. (Interestingly, his father, James, once played Ronald Reagan in a TV mini-series.)

Elizabeth Banks (last seen in The 40-Year-Old Virgin) as First Lady Laura Bush is another solid piece of casting: innocuous, good looking but no knockout, and, like Brolin, she carries barely any distracting baggage from previous roles. "I just want to honour [Laura's] voice, her stillness, and her hairstyle," says Banks of the role. James Cromwell, meanwhile, was born to play Daddy Bush. He's been a US president before, in the Tom Clancy adaptation The Sum of All Fears, and played another con-troversial patriarch, Prince Philip in The Queen.

Then we come to Ioan Gruffudd's portrayal of Tony Blair, which makes you wonder whether Alastair Campbell had a hand in the casting, because, with due respect, Tone, Ioan's younger, better-looking and has a more expensive dentist than you. And his hair looks oddly blonde, too, but perhaps that's just the halo... Seriously, couldn't they just have asked Michael Sheen to do it again?

Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush, Jeffrey Wright as Colin Powell and Toby Jones as Karl "Turdblossom" Rove are all good fits, even if Wright is a little young as the conscience-stricken former secretary of state. Thandie Newton as Condi Rice looks like she has half a packet of Maltesers stuffed in her mouth. People often feel the need for silly make-up in a film like this, but Bourne baddie Scott Glenn, who looks very little like Don Rumsfeld, may have the right idea: in a biopic, it's often better to look nothing like your famous character than to look slightly like them.

Bringing up the rear is Richard Dreyfuss as a rotund Dick Cheney. In the trailer, the Jaws star is barely recognisable inside a fat suit (or did he just bulk up on Freedom Fries for the part?). But Dreyfuss did a great job as a Republican scumbag in The American President, so we can legitimately foster high hopes for his Cheney.

As Oliver Stone says, Bush is "not your average president". Indeed, his approval ratings are now around the 28 per cent mark – lower than any commander-in-chief since Nixon. So do we really want to see a film about a man of whom so many of us so thoroughly disapprove? Well, yes, actually. Especially the pretzel bit.

Who's next to get Stoned? And who should play them?

*Barack Obama: Will Smith. It's the ears.

*John McCain: Robert Duvall, an old legend with Vietnam experience. ( Well, he was in Apocalypse Now.) Rumour has it that Duvall turned down the role of Dick Cheney in W.

*The Clintons: Michael Douglas and Glenn Close. They were so good together in Fatal Attraction, after all. Douglas has that charismatic-but-sexually-dubious thing down pat, and Close is (just about) scary enough.

*Bill Gates: William H Macy. Looks good wearing a sweater.

*Martha Stewart: soft on the outside, hard on the inside; Reese Witherspoon for her early life, then Joan Allen for the bit where Stewart gets famous and goes to jail.

*Arnold Schwarzenegger: we need a 6'2" Austrian-American ex-bodybuilder, 60ish, who can act. I can't think of anyone. Can you?

SOURCE

WAKE THE FUCK UP AND SMELL THE GLOBAL WARMING

WAKE THE FUCK UP AND SMELL THE GLOBAL WARMING

Ice sheet breaks loose off Canada

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- A chunk of ice spreading across 18 square kilometers (seven square miles) has broken off a Canadian ice shelf in the Arctic, scientists said Tuesday.

A chunk of ice is shown drifting after it separated from the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf off the coast of Ellesmere Island.

Derek Mueller, a researcher at Trent University, was careful not to blame global warming, but said the event was consistent with the theory that the current Arctic climate isn't rebuilding ice sheets.

"We're in a different climate now," he said. "It's not conducive to regrowing them. It's a one-way process."

Mueller said the sheet broke away last week from the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf off the north coast of Ellesmere Island in Canada's far north. He said a crack in the shelf was first spotted in 2002 and a survey this spring found a network of fissures.

The sheet is the biggest piece shed by one of Canada's six ice shelves since the Ayles shelf broke loose in 2005 from the coast of Ellesmere, about 500 miles from the North Pole.

Formed by accumulating snow and freezing meltwater, ice shelves are large platforms of thick, ancient sea ice that float on the ocean's surface. Ellesmere Island was once entirely ringed by a single enormous ice shelf that broke up in the early 1900s.

At 170 square miles and 130-feet thick, the Ward Hunt shelf is the largest of those remnants. Mueller said it has been steadily declining since the 1930s.

Gary Stern, co-leader of an international research program on sea ice, said it's the same story all around the Arctic.

Speaking from the Coast Guard icebreaker Amundsen in Canada's north, Stern said the Ward Hunt breakup is related to what he's seeing thousands of kilometers away.

He hasn't seen any ice in weeks. Plans to set up an ice camp last February had to be abandoned when usually dependable ice didn't form for the second year in a row.

"Nobody on the ship is surprised anymore," said Stern. "We've been trying to get the word out for the longest time now that things are happening fast and they're going to continue to happen fast."

Many scientists now believe that the Arctic will have ice-free summers by 2013 instead of 2030 as predicted by the International Panel on Climate Change.

"It's all connected to the warming climate. Everything is connected together," Stern said.

SOURCE

Expert: L.A.'s quake a 'small sample' of one to come

Expert: L.A.'s quake a 'small sample' of one to come

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The magnitude 5.4 earthquake in Southern California on Tuesday caused no serious damage or injuries, but experts say it's a reminder that the "Big One" could happen at any time.

"This earthquake reminds us to be prepared," California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said. "We were very fortunate that there were no serious injuries or property damage."

California has a 99 percent chance of experiencing a major earthquake within the next 30 years, according to a report by state and federal agencies.

Tuesday's quake in the Los Angeles metropolitan area "is a sample, a small sample," said Kate Hutton, a seismologist at the California Institute of Technology.

"This is somewhere between small and moderate." She said there is a 5 percent chance the quake could be a precursor to a larger earthquake. After 24 hours, she said, that chance will drop to 1 percent.

"Every earthquake relieves some stress," Hutton said. "It's usually only a drop in the ocean. In other words, the amount of stress released by this earthquake is minuscule compared to the amount that's built up and is building up for the Big One when it happens some day in the future." Watch Hutton say Tuesday's quake was a sign of bigger ones to come »

And when will that be?

"From a geologist's point of view, the answer has to be soon," she said. "But geologists are used to thinking on millions of years and thousands of years time scale, so I don't think that gives any useful information for people, except be prepared at any time because it could happen at any time."

A magnitude 5.4 quake is considered by the U.S. Geological Survey to be moderate, which can cause slight damage to buildings and other structures. So far this year, the United States has had 39 moderate earthquakes between magnitude 5.0 and 5.9. Globally, that number is 790.

The last moderate quake to strike California was a magnitude 5.4 in April in the northern part of the state. A magnitude 4.4 struck the greater Los Angeles area in August 2007.

There is a 99 percent chance of California experiencing a quake of magnitude 6.7 or larger within the next 30 years, according to the Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast, sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey, the California Geological Survey and the Southern California Earthquake Center in a report published in Science Daily in April.

Schwarzenegger said he believes the state is "as prepared as anyone can be. We have continuous discussions about that. We are fanatics about emergencies and to be ready."

The largest earthquake in recent years in California was a magnitude 7.1 in 1999, Hutton said. But it was centered in the desert, near Twentynine Palms, in a sparsely populated area.

Tuesday's quake struck about 11:42 a.m., according to the USGS. Its epicenter was about 2 miles southwest of Chino Hills and about 5 miles southeast of Diamond Bar.

More than 30 aftershocks were recorded. Hutton said the largest was a magnitude 3.6.

Los Angeles police said a downtown hotel sustained some structural damage, but no one was injured and the building was not evacuated. There were some unconfirmed reports of minor injuries.

Despite the absence of serious damage or injuries, some Los Angeles-area residents were left rattled. The quake was felt as far south as San Diego, and the USGS said it received reports of light shaking as far north as Rosamond, California, about 55 miles north-northeast of Los Angeles.

Reports from those who felt the quake poured into CNN.

"My house was like a fun house. Everything was moving," said Danny Casler, 28, of Huntington Beach. He said he was sleeping when his house began shaking, and some things fell in the living room. He ran out of the house in his boxer shorts.

Lawyer Kevin Crisp said he was on the phone with his partner, who burst out, "Big quake!" Crisp said he felt it about five seconds later. "This was very impressive. Long and very uniform. Really had the building going." He said doors were swinging on the hinges and bottles of wine were rolling back and forth on his shelf.

"It just started with a really strong jolt," Wendy Criner said. "I ran and got my daughters from different rooms, and we squatted in the living room. I did have stuff fall off the shelf, some books in my daughters' room and some things in the kitchen."

The quake knocked out a ground radar system at Los Angeles International Airport, but that did not interfere with operations, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Tiles fell from the ceiling in one terminal as water flowed from a burst pipe.

The calculation of the quake's magnitude fluctuated as seismologists reviewed the data. Initially classified as a magnitude 5.8, the quake's intensity was reduced to a 5.6 and then to a 5.4. Because the earthquake magnitude scale is exponential, a 5.8 magnitude quake is four to five times more intense than a 5.4.

Two nuclear plants are in the vicinity of the quake's epicenter near Chino Hills, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The closest to the epicenter is in San Onofre, 50 miles south, but an NRC spokesman said, "this is well below the threshold for any conceivable damage to the plants."

Still, the quake jolted the nerves of many Californians.

"I've lived in California, I've lived through several of them," Margot Wagner of Santa Barbara told CNN. "It's always a little unnerving."

SOURCE

NAS BRINGS BOXES AND "SLY FOX" TO COLBERT

NAS BRINGS BOXES AND "SLY FOX" TO COLBERT

187,000 albums later, Nas has elbowed Lil Wayne and Coldplay out of the way for the top spot on the album charts this week. 620,127 signed petitions later, Nas has elbowed Stephen Colbert and Keith Olbermann out of the way for some room at the Bill O'Reilly Haters Ball. Yesterday Nas stacked all those petitions in boxes, taped their total number to each box's side, and delivered a prepared statement outside Fox News HQ in NYC, protesting what he believes is racially biased coverage of Barack Obama. (RS.com lists some of Nas's cited examples: an onscreen graphic referring to Michelle Obama as "baby mama," referring to Michelle's critics as a "lynching party," and of course the infamous "terrorist fist jab.")

The boxes' tour didn't end their though; hate on Fox and you're gonna get a satirical grill down from Stephen Colbert. Nas is there to perform his anti-Fox News tune "Sly Fox," but first he and Stephen have a seat on those 620,127 signatures to talk about Papa Bear, to discuss the controversial former title to Nas's new album (Colbert gets Nas's blessing to say it backwards, so "Reggin please" doesn't come too far behind), and to allow Stephen to say he will "pop the truth in your ass."

Sly Fox

-stereogum.com

THE MIZ SPEAKETH

THE MIZ SPEAKETH

Check this youtube link guys. This may surprise you, but Newt Gingrich has by far, the best energy plan that I have seen by anyone, democrat or republican. It is a 3 pronged attack that I think would work well if Congress had the balls to implement something like this. The problem is the republicans are too tied into their special interests oil companies to implement long-reaching change and democrats are too worried about to releasing some of the oil in the strategic petroleum reserves, in fact they might care more about protecting fucking penguins in remote northern alaska than they do about middle class americans being able to transport themselves to work, purhcase affordable food, etc.

-THE MIZ

NOW THIS IS ART

NOW THIS IS ART

YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF TO EXPLORE THIS
CHECK OUT TONY KELLY'S WORK. BRILLIANT AND ADDICTIVE

CENSORSHIP

CENSORSHIP

The BPA - Toe Jam Featuring David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal
by TheBrightonPortAuthority

i dont like new balance, but i like this new balance

i dont like new balance, but i like this new balance

Despite being known almost exclusively for their running segment, the previous generations of New Balance have boasted a relatively unknown contingency of court classics. Among the styles making their way back into New Balance’s 2008 model roster are the CT470 and MAJJ. Both styles embody a vintage feel with simple white/off-white colorways. Available now at Tokishirazu.

-hypebeast

CREATIVE RECREATION CESARIO

CREATIVE RECREATION CESARIO

Again, im not a huge CR guy.  Buuuut I like these.  

CHUCK these out

CHUCK these out

100th ANNIVERSARY CHUCKS.   EWWWW

THE FUTURE IS NOW

THE FUTURE IS NOW

LILYPAD , A Floating Ecopolis for Ecological Refugees

It's common knowledge that the planet is warming, ice caps are melting, and water levels are rising. The international scientific community predicts that a temperature elevation of 1°C will lead to a water rise of 1 meter, resulting in massive land loss and the displacement of millions of people world wide. Vincent Callebaut, a visionary Belgian architect, is responding to this inevitability with his proposal LILYPAD, A Floating Ecopolis for Ecological Refugees.

LILYPAD is touted by Callebaut as a prototypical auto-sufficient amphibious city... a tenable solution to the rising water levels. In addition to providing housing for those displaced by the transforming land/water relationships, LILYPAD also produces sustainable energy for developed regions.

Entirely autosufficient, Lilypad takes up the four main challenges launched by the OECD in March 2008: climate, biodiversity, water and health.

LILYPAD is a true amphibian - half aquatic and half terrestrial city - able to accommodate 50,000 inhabitants and inviting the biodiversity to develop its fauna and flora around a central lagoon of soft water collecting and purifying the rain waters. This artificial lagoon is entirely immersed, ballasting the city. It enables inhabitants to live in the heart of the sub aquatic depths. The multi functional program is based on three marinas and three mountains dedicated to work, shopping and entertainment. The whole set is covered by a stratum of planted housing in suspended gardens and crossed by a network of streets and alleyways with organic outline. The goal is to create a harmonious coexistence of humans and nature, exploring new modes of cross-cultural aquatic living.

The floating structure is "branches" of the Ecopolis inspired of the highly ribbed leave of the giant lilypad of the Amazonia Victoria Regia

The floating structure of the Ecopolis is directly inspired of the highly ribbed leave of the great lilypad of Amazonia Victoria Regia. The double skin is made of polyester fibers covered by a layer of titanium dioxide (TiO2) like an anatase which by reacting to the ultraviolet rays enable to absorb the atmospheric pollution by photocatalytic effect.

LILYPAD reaches a positive energetic balance with zero carbon emission by the integration of all the renewable energies (solar, thermal and photovoltaic energies, wind energy, hydraulic, tidal power station, osmotic energies, phytopurification, biomass), producing more energy than it consumes.

To adapt to the changing ocean flows resulting from the hydro climatic factors, LILYPAD makes direct reference to Jules Verne's literature, the alternative possibility of a multicultural floating Ecopolis whose metabolism would be in perfect symbiosis with the cycles of nature.

[MORE HERE]

LANVIN HIGH TOPS

LANVIN HIGH TOPS

THESE ARE FIRE.  Unfortunately they hover around 7bills.  Good news?  They're more than 50% off.  getemwhiletheyhot

SOURCE

Vans SK8-HI

Vans SK8-HI

The Vans SK8-HI LX Cargo uses the classic silhouette, but adds a square pocket at the side of the shoes. Not sure of its functionality, but these shoes are bound to come in handy. Furthermore, the pocket is fastened by a button and is featured on both styles, khaki and camo. Retail is suggested at $80 and should be available soon at Vans retailers.

sneakerfiles.com

Artist Profile: Trevor Andrew a.k.a. TROUBLE ANDREW

Artist Profile: Trevor Andrew a.k.a. TROUBLE ANDREW

THIS GUY IS THE TRUTH. Random find...

If I could afford.... even hotter than Dylon

If I could afford.... even hotter than Dylon

Yves Saint Laurent has released some high-end sneakers as part of their latest collection. Offering footwear from both a conservative interpretation as well as more color expression. In addition,they have collaborated with the classic English brand "Dr. Martens" who offered their classic silhouette for design. Which are available now at [here at Concepts.]

KRIS VAN ASSCHE A/W 08

KRIS VAN ASSCHE A/W 08

THESE ARE FIRE LIKE DYLON 

GREATEST BEER IN ALLLLL ZE VORLD

GREATEST BEER IN ALLLLL ZE VORLD

Check Out A Segment From Kanye West *******CHECK THIS OUT*****

Check Out A Segment From Kanye West *******CHECK THIS OUT*****

The 2nd skinniest friend I have, DL, "thought this was cool and watched the program.   He [Kanye] actively tried to changed ppls lives that needed help. Being and icon with so much power can be a gift and a curse, looks like kanye proves to use it more as a gift as he uses his celebrity status to better some one elses life besides his own."
Check Out A Segment From Kanye West & Choose Or Lose’s ‘Homecoming’

Posted using ShareThis

WALLEE CHAMP

WALLEE CHAMP

IF YOU KNOW ME, YOU KNOW I KILL WALLABEES BETTER THAN TONY STARKS HIMSELF. THESE ARE IILLLLLLLLLLLL


Ronnie Fieg and his David Z's sales crew were spotted hangin out on Mercer St. in Soho this Saturday wearing metallic leather Clarks Wallabees. Usually Ronnie gets his hands on a run of his upcoming product about a month before its release so hopefully we see these by the end of August.

Much like their recent Asics collaboration, the Clarks collaboration consists of two Wallabees, coming in a gold and a silver colorway.

I LOVE BANKSY. THIS IS THE ONLY ART I LIKE NOWADAYS

I LOVE BANKSY. THIS IS THE ONLY ART I LIKE NOWADAYS

Inside Outside is a documentary focussing on evolving graffiti. The DVD has just recently been released and for the occasion PingMag sat down with one of the directors of the movie. Check it out here.
preview:

What a country...

What a country...

Iowa Case Raises Question: Is Stripping An Art?

Iowa doesn't have any all-nude strip clubs - but it does have "performing arts centers" where women dance naked.

Although perhaps not for long. The loophole in the state's public indecent exposure law that allows nude dancing at "art centers" is under attack in the small community of Hamburg, a town of 1,200 just across the Missouri River from Nebraska.

The case pending before a Fremont County judge affects only one business in Hamburg, but if he agrees with the prosecutor, it could eventually threaten the legal standing of nude dancing clubs across the state.

It all began on July 21, 2007, when a 17-year-old niece of Sheriff Steven MacDonald climbed up on stage at Shotgun Geniez in Hamburg and stripped off her clothing. Owner Clarence Judy was charged with violating Iowa's public indecent exposure law.

Judy responded that the law doesn't apply to a "theater, concert hall, art center, museum, or similar establishments" devoted to the arts or theatrical performances: "Dance has been considered one of the arts, as is sculpture, painting and anything else like that. What Clarence has is a club where people can come and perform," argued his lawyer.

Murphy noted that the club has a gallery selling collectible posters and other art, and it provides patrons with sketch pads.

But Fremont County Attorney Margaret Johnson says it's nonsense: "Are you saying that minors can't be protected? Can a group of 12-year-olds come down and go in and dance nude and it's OK? I don't think that's what the Legislature had in mind when it made those additional provisions."

Johnson said the intent of the law is to allow movies in a theater where there's brief nudity or for an art gallery displaying paintings of nudes.

The owner says he bans anyone under 18 from entering the five-year-old business but "a group of girls snuck in a 17-year-old": "While she was there, she felt like dancing so she got up and danced on the stage and then she took her clothes off. Trouble with that is she's the sheriff's niece.".

As part of his defense during trial, his lawyer cited a 1998 ruling that found nude dancing is a form of art. In that case, a judge found owner not guilty.

SOURCE

Google me this, Google me that

Google me this, Google me that

Ex-Googlers launch rival search engine

Developers of new engine say it offers a more comprehensive way to search the Internet.

July 28, 2008: 6:11 AM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Anna Patterson's last Internet search engine was so impressive that industry leader Google Inc. bought the technology in 2004 to upgrade its own system.

She believes her latest invention is even more valuable - only this time it's not for sale.

Patterson instead intends to upstage Google, which she quit in 2006 to develop a more comprehensive and efficient way to scour the Internet.

The end result is Cuil, pronounced "cool." Backed by $33 million in venture capital, the search engine plans to begin processing requests for the first time Monday.

Cuil had kept a low profile while Patterson, her husband, Tom Costello, and two other former Google engineers - Russell Power and Louis Monier - searched for better ways to search.

Now, it's boasting time.

Web index: For starters, Cuil's search index spans 120 billion Web pages.

Patterson believes that's at least three times the size of Google's index, although there is no way to know for certain. Google stopped publicly quantifying its index's breadth nearly three years ago when the catalog spanned 8.2 billion Web pages.

Cuil won't divulge the formula it has developed to cover a wider swath of the Web with far fewer computers than Google. And Google isn't ceding the point: Spokeswoman Katie Watson said her company still believes its index is the largest.

After getting inquiries about Cuil, Google asserted on its blog Friday that it regularly scans through 1 trillion unique Web links. But Google said it doesn't index them all because they either point to similar content or would diminish the quality of its search results in some other way. The posting didn't quantify the size of Google's index.

A search index's scope is important because information, pictures and content can't be found unless they're stored in a database. But Cuil believes it will outshine Google in several other ways, including its method for identifying and displaying pertinent results.

Content analysis: Rather than trying to mimic Google's method of ranking the quantity and quality of links to Web sites, Patterson says Cuil's technology drills into the actual content of a page. And Cuil's results will be presented in a more magazine-like format instead of just a vertical stack of Web links. Cuil's results are displayed with more photos spread horizontally across the page and include sidebars that can be clicked on to learn more about topics related to the original search request.

Finally, Cuil is hoping to attract traffic by promising not to retain information about its users' search histories or surfing patterns - something that Google does, much to the consternation of privacy watchdogs.

Cuil is just the latest in a long line of Google challengers.

Other contenders: The list includes swaggering startups like Teoma (whose technology became the backbone of Ask.com), Vivisimo, Snap, Mahalo and, most recently, Powerset, which was acquired by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Fortune 500) this month.

Even after investing hundreds of millions of dollars on search, both Microsoft and Yahoo Inc. (YHOO, Fortune 500) have been losing ground to Google (GOOG, Fortune 500). Through May, Google held a 62% share of the U.S. search market followed by Yahoo at 21% and Microsoft at 8.5%, according to comScore Inc.

Google has become so synonymous with Internet search that it may no longer matter how good Cuil or any other challenger is, said Gartner Inc. analyst Allen Weiner.

"Search has become as much about branding as anything else," Weiner said. "I doubt [Cuil] will be keeping anyone at Google awake at night."

Google welcomed Cuil to the fray with its usual mantra about its rivals. "Having great competitors is a huge benefit to us and everyone in the search space," Watson said. "It makes us all work harder, and at the end of the day our users benefit from that."

But this will be the first time that Google has battled a general-purpose search engine created by its own alumni. It probably won't be the last time, given that Google now has nearly 20,000 employees.

Patterson joined Google in 2004 after she built and sold Recall, a search index that probed old Web sites for the Internet Archive. She and Power worked on the same team at Google.

Although he also worked for Google for a short time, Monier is best known as the former chief technology officer of AltaVista, which was considered the best search engine before Google came along in 1998. Monier also helped build the search engine on eBay's (EBAY, Fortune 500) online auction site.

The trio of former Googlers are teaming up with Patterson's husband, Costello, who built a once-promising search engine called Xift in the late 1990s. He later joined IBM Corp. (IBM, Fortune 500), where he worked on an "analytic engine" called WebFountain.

Costello's Irish heritage inspired Cuil's odd name. It was derived from a character named Finn McCuill in Celtic folklore.

Patterson enjoyed her time at Google, but became disenchanted with the company's approach to search. "Google has looked pretty much the same for 10 years now," she said, "and I can guarantee it will look the same a year from now."

SOURCE

WAR

WAR

U.S.: Iraqi civilians killed by soldiers were unarmed

• U.S. military officials originally said an Iraqi civilian was shooting at troops
  
• Military initially said a weapon was found in car, but now says there was no gun
  
• Investigation found troops shot three unarmed, "law abiding citizens of Iraq"
  
• U.S. military: Initial description based on troops reporting they were fired upon
  
• BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Investigators have determined three Iraqi civilians were unarmed and attacking no one when U.S. soldiers fatally shot them in western Baghdad last month, the U.S. military said Sunday.
  

U.S. military officials initially said at least one of the three Iraqis, who were riding in a car approaching the soldiers, started shooting, and that the soldiers returned fire. The military also initially said a weapon was later found in the car, and bullet holes were found in two of the soldiers' humvees.

But an investigation found the soldiers shot and killed three "law abiding citizens of Iraq," and that no weapon was found in the vehicle, a military release stated.

Also, the investigation determined only one humvee had a bullet hole, and that the bullet hole's source isn't known, said Lt. Steve Stover, a military spokesman.

Still, investigators determined "neither the soldiers nor civilians involved in the incident were at fault," the release said.

"This was an extremely unfortunate and tragic incident," said Col. Allen Batschelet, chief of staff for Multi-National Division-Baghdad. "Our deepest regrets of sympathy and condolences go out to the family.

"We are taking several corrective measures to amend and eliminate the possibility of such situations happening in the future."

The shooting happened June 25 in the civilian area of Baghdad International Airport. U.S. soldiers "perceived the rapidly approaching vehicle as a threat" and opened fire "after the driver failed to respond to soldiers' warning measures," according to the military statement.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry countered the U.S. military's initial account of the incident, saying U.S. soldiers killed a male banker and two female employees as they were driving to work.

On Sunday, the U.S. military said its initial account "resulted from the numerous soldier witnesses who strongly believed they were being fired upon from the vehicle."

During initial questioning, the soldiers in the convoy said they "felt threatened and believed they saw flashes coming from the front passenger window," Stover said.

The military also said Sunday its initial report about a weapon in the victims' car came from a mistaken belief that Iraqi police had found one.

Mohammed Hafez, son of the slain bank director, said he was shocked by the findings of the investigation.

"My father was a good man. He was a very good man," he said. "I lost not only a father, he was also my friend."

The platoon involved in the incident was banned from conducting military operations during the course of the investigation, Stover said. The platoon returned to duty about two weeks ago after the investigation was approved.

Hafez said he wants the soldiers to stand trial. He said the U.S. military has apologized to his family, meeting with them twice and offering them $10,000 and a condolence letter. Hafez said his family turned down the money.

Stover confirmed the meetings, but not the offer of money.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.
SOURCE

Relationships: Love Ain't Enough

Relationships: Love Ain't Enough

Relationships: Love Ain't Enough
Love isn't all you need in most relationships. Tips from the animal world on keys to a healthy life together.

By: Hara Estroff Marano

More women are having affairs. Couples increasingly prefer cohabitation to marriage, avoiding commitment as if it were some kind of disease. The divorce rate continues to hover at 50 percent.

Still, undeniably, people like to pair up. The need seems to be built into us. And surveys show that most people believe that a good marriage is essential for a happy life. More and more, we rely on our private relationships for our mental health. But at the same time, they are becoming less satisfying.

"There are few positive models of marriage," contends psychologist David Olsen, Ph.D. "People make the assumption that love is sufficient." It isn't. And then when their marriage goes downhill, "unhappy couples can hardly remember what brought them together in the first place."

For good models of marriage, we have to look at animals, he told the Smartmarriages conference, the world's largest gathering of relationship experts. And with that he dimmed the lights and showed video clips of Winged Migration. Downright inspiring!

Among the information presented at the conference:

• If love isn't enough, what is? For starters, personal financial management should be required education for every couple. Money is the number-one source of conflict in relationships. Sex is second.

• Tension in the parents' marriage affects kids. It is often the cause of teenage defiance.

• When parents fight, children withdraw from their fathers.

• In the first three years after the birth of a first child, 67 percent of couples experience a drop in relationship satisfaction. The drop occurs first in the mother, then in the father.

• Everybody handles conflict poorly when a discussion turns negative. What saves romance is attempts at repairing the relationship. "I'm sorry," counts.

• After affairs or other transgressions, forgiveness is necessary for healing. But some people forgive too cheaply. Forgiveness is not the job of the hurt party alone; genuine forgiveness must be earned. Forgiving too cheaply keeps people from using the experience to develop more intimacy. They also fail to gain insight into their own contribution to the situation.

• Refusing to forgive is unhealthy, physically and emotionally. "Not forgiving is literally poison," said psychologist Janis Abrahms Spring, PhD.

• After an affair, the offender must pay attention to the partner's pain if they want the partner to move on.

• "Physical abuse is not a relationship problem, it's a self-regulation problem," says Steven Stosny,, Ph.D. "Abusers are filled with shame, an internal punishment system controlled by someone else. When you violate attachment bonds you feel self-hate. Abusers lack compassion for themselves."

• "The instant we become an adult is the moment when the instinct to love is greater than the desire to be loved," Stosny insists.

• "We kill love by how we treat our partners, by not handling negative feelings well," says Howard Markman, Ph.D.

• Lack of commitment is subversive in a relationship, says Markman. Couples are not making it clear that they are choosing each other and giving up all other options. Then when problems arise they feel "I didn't clearly decide I wanted to be in this," and they don't push to resolve the issues -- which will just crop up again in the next relationship.

• "Love doesn't last forever because we need the opportunity for growth and healing," says Israeli psychologist Ayala Malach Pines, Ph.D. ""Being with a partner who pushes your buttons is good. The button points to the place that is most important for us to work on."


Psychology Today Magazine, Jul 26, 2004

oh what up Sweet Thang.

oh what up Sweet Thang.

featured photo is Angela Lindvall

How i feel driving

How i feel driving

The Raconteurs

The Raconteurs

The White Stripes

The White Stripes

The Killers

The Killers

Modill

Modill

The Pharcyde

The Pharcyde

Creative Recreation

Creative Recreation

I don't know how I feel about creative rec as a whole, but these are nice.  Part of their new Italian Collection, which consists of high end footwear all made in Italy.

Thanks to Evil Monito we can give you a detailed look out of the new high end collection - the Porello. A nice and clean silhouette in high quality. It will be coming in white, navy and black.

source

This is happening

This is happening

Three Hong Kong children have been sentenced to more than three years for the armed hold-up of a jewellery shop, a newspaper said on Thursday, with the court saying the stiff sentence was in the public interest. Disguised with masks and caps, the two boys and one girl, all aged 14, threatened staff at the shop with knives in September last year, grabbing gold necklaces, bracelets and pendants valued at more than HK$1 million ($128,200).

Sentencing the three, now aged 15, the judge said the offence was too serious to warrant a training centre term despite the age of the three, the South China Morning Post said.

One boy, an apprentice to the mastermind goldsmith who had earlier been jailed for seven years, was sentenced to three years and seven months, while the other two, who are cousins, were jailed for three years and five months.

Earlier this week, a court heard that a nine-year-old Hong Kong girl traveled alone into mainland China to collect heroin and bring it back in her rucksack for a drug trafficker who paid her HK$1,200.

(Reporting by Nick Macfie; Editing by David Fox)
source

McCain

McCain

Sen. John McCain doesn't know what to say when he's asked if insurance companies should cover Viagra and birth control.

McCain tells the reporter to look at this voting record on the issue, then admits a second later that even he can't remember how he voted.

source

Introducing... Muhammad

Introducing... Muhammad

Shopping lures Rice after office
When Condoleezza Rice's term in office ends, she is looking forward to "getting back to shopping", she says.

The US secretary of state told girls at a school in Perth, Australia, that she used to "hit the stores" with her mother on Sunday mornings after church.

"It's a great pastime, shopping. I love it, even if I don't buy anything. I just love going to the stores to look."

Ms Rice was speaking as she stopped off in Australia on her return from the Asean summit in Singapore.

She is making the informal visit on the invitation of Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, and will also visit New Zealand - where protests against her are planned - before returning home.

'Academic'

"I love to shop... but now I don't have much time," Ms Rice, 53, told some 400 students in green blazers gathered in the gym of Mercedes College - including Mr Smith's daughter, a pupil at the private school.

Asked whether she would want to run for elected political office, or the presidency, Ms Rice said she had "never run for anything".

"I never ran for head girl... it's not quite for me."

Instead, Ms Rice - who has a PhD in political science and was a professor at Stanford University - said she was an academic at heart.

"Deep in my soul, deep in my being, I am an academic. I love the world of ideas, I love writing, I love teaching," she said.

"Don't let anybody define for you what you should be interested in," Ms Rice told the schoolgirls.

Reward for arrest

Ms Rice may receive a less warm welcome in her next stop, New Zealand, where she arrives on Friday for talks with Prime Minister Helen Clark and Foreign Minister Winston Peters on Saturday.

Students at one university are offering a reward of NZ$5,000 ($3,700; £1,870) for anyone who carried out a citizen's arrest on Ms Rice.

Her arrest is being sought for "overseeing the illegal invasion and continued occupation" of Iraq, said Auckland University Student Association (AUSA) president David Do.

But the police cautioned that the consequences of trying to carry out the arrest could be "very serious indeed".

Ms Rice responded to the protest plans at a news conference on Friday.

"I can only say that the United States has done everything that it can to end this war on terror, to live up to our international and national laws and obligations," she said, according to the Associated Press.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7524939.stm

-the beginning from Muhammad

a Moment

a Moment

a Friday Moment

A lot of people get hung up on Mondays.  Office Space does a good job solidifying this with its famous play with, "a case of the mondays".  But Mondays are supposed to suck.  No one should like a Monday.  If you like monday, that should be what gets notoriety.  It's the hardest day of the week.  Hump day is monday because monday is the 'alpe duez' of the week. Its downhill from there.  

What happens when you get hung up on a friday?  Friday is the peak of enjoyment.  What about having a bad friday?  Well I had a bad friday.  A really bad friday.  Sans details, the GE was in the dumps and down and out.  But he had a moment.   And a few strangers, with the help of my favorite, perfect, most deserving little friend, made me feel ashamed of myself.   I, famously, was so focused on what I want I lost track of what I have.  I thought of all the things happening in the world and my brooding was so insignificant and inconsequential I deserved a slap.  

I'm happy for all I have, all of you I know, all of you I don't, all of you that are not afraid, really all of you reading this because thats not many, all I've lost, all i've wasted, all i've earned, and all i've loved.  Cheer up, drink it down, and hug it out.  You are not alone.

We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

the Muse

the Muse

Jessica Stam (born April 23, 1986), also known simply as Stam, is a Canadian model.