Tail of the Tiger Golf Ball Set - The Mistress Collection

Now you can! In fact, you have a dozen dirty whores to choose from!

Introducing the Tail Of The Tiger Golf Ball Gift Set - The Mistress Collection! Now, all of Tiger Woods' favorite call-girls, cocktail waitresses and herpes carriers have been immortalized on a set of collectible golf balls.

Their mothers should be so proud!

The box set comes with 12 different mistress golf balls that you can smack, club, putt, and play with all day long. They are easy to hit (on) and they love to hump bump and run!
Comes in Balls for Play at $54.00
or Balls for Display ar $59.00
reference: perezhilton.com 

click on image to see video

Ohio Experiments with One Drug for Lethal Injection - News Video

lasvegasnow.com - COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The man considered the father of lethal injection in the United States said it doesn't matter whether three fatal drugs are used or one - as his home state of Ohio has proposed - as long as the drug works efficiently.

Dr. Jay Chapman, who developed the lethal three-drug cocktail in the 1970s when he was the Oklahoma state medical examiner, said Ohio's decision to become the first state in the nation to use only one drug achieves that goal.

He said there was no particular reason he didn't propose a single drug, other than a concern that it might take a little longer to work. His three-drug method became widespread after states copied Oklahoma.

Now Chapman, semiretired in California at age 70, said he believes the system he helped create shows condemned inmates too much mercy.

"Their death is made much too easy by this sort of protocol for the crimes that they committed," he told The Associated Press last week.

But he said the hope was injection would avoid the pain-and-suffering arguments and allow executions to take place.

Under Ohio's new system, executioners would use a single large dose of thiopental sodium, an anesthetic, to put inmates to death, similar to the way veterinarians euthanize animals.

The one-drug system has never been used on condemned inmates in the United States.

State officials proposed the change after state executioners tried unsuccessfully Sept. 15 to find a usable vein for condemned killer Romell Broom. Broom, who raped and killed a 14-year-old girl in 1984 in Cleveland, is challenging the state's right to try a second time.

The new protocol would provide a backup method using two drugs injected into a muscle if no usable vein can be found, as happened with Broom. The current system uses one drug that puts inmates to sleep, a second that paralyzes them and a third that stops their heart.

Death penalty opponents have long argued that the three drugs could cause offenders severe pain if the first drug didn't adequately knock out an inmate.

Capital punishment entered Chapman's life early. A childhood friend, Chester Gregg, was executed for killing his wife in July 1952.

Chapman, who grew up in the southwest Ohio town of Blanchester, and his mother stayed up with Gregg's mother the night of the execution. He said the event had no bearing on his later work.

"It's a totally separate thing," Chapman said. "It's just an experience I had along the way."

Chapman, a forensic pathologist, was the Oklahoma medical examiner while state officials were looking for a new execution method shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court declared capital punishment constitutional. Lawmakers then began looking for a humane method of execution to replace the electric chair.

Chapman initially proposed a two-drug approach: an anesthetic followed by a paralytic drug. He later added potassium chloride, to provide for instantaneous death.

"We felt that by going with this type of regimen, no one could suggest that it was cruel and unusual because people undergo this very protocol every day for anesthetic for surgery world-round," Chapman said.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year upheld the constitutionality of lethal injection, ruling on Kentucky's three-drug method, which is similar to that in Ohio and many other states.

A separate lawsuit challenges Ohio's protocol, questioning in recent months the qualifications of executioners, some of whom are paramedics.

Attorneys for death row inmates mention the case of Joseph Clark when raising questions about executioners' ability to perform lethal injection. In 2006, Clark's execution had to be restarted after he pushed himself up and announced the drugs weren't working. An execution in 2007 also took much longer that usual. The state has repeatedly said it's confident in its execution team.

The state argues that the new method renders the lawsuit moot, since it removes the possibility of pain, and it addresses situations such as the Broom case. Opponents says moving ahead quickly with the new, untested method amounts to "human experimentation."

Ohio hopes to have its new system in place in time for a possible execution Dec. 8.

Breckenridge Colorado votes to legalize marijuana

examiner.com - Breckenridge, Colorado is drawing a lot of attention after Measure 2F (which removes criminal penalties in the town code for possession of marijuana) was approved by a nearly three to one margin. The "yes" vote was 73% compared to 27% voting "no". Breckenridge has roughly 3,300 voters.

The ordinance also removes criminal penalties for the possession of bongs, pipes and other drug paraphernalia, but did not change laws against smoking marijuana in public, the use of the drug by minors, or DUI related offenses.

Sea McAllister stated it was his view that the "voters demonstrated that Breckenridge citizens overwhelmingly believe that adults should not be punished for making the safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol."

The measure's victory is considered symbolic because it conflicts with state and federal laws and the state and federal laws automatically override it. Supporters of the measure, however, say it inches the whole state closer to full legalization.

It is not expected to affect Breckenridge Ski Resorts as most are on U.S. Forestry Service property and covered by federal law. In fact a spokesperson stated that, “We take safety as our highest priority. Anything that's in violation of the skier safety act is something we take very seriously."

bp-makes-giant-oil-find-in-gulf-of-mexico

Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil major BP Plc said it has made an oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, which analysts believe could contain over 1 billion barrels of recoverable reserves, reaffirming the Gulf's strategic importance to the industry.

BP said in a statement on Wednesday that it had made the "giant" find at its Tiber Prospect in the Keathley Canyon block 102, by drilling one of the deepest wells ever sunk by the industry.

In this undated photo the ultra-deepwater semi-submersible rig Deepwater Horizon is shown operating in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo/Transocean)

Further appraisal will be required to ascertain the size of volumes of oil present, but a spokesman said the find should be bigger than its Kaskida discovery which has over 3 billion barrels of oil in place.

Estimates of recoverable reserves range from around 20 percent of oil in place.

"Assuming reserves in place of 4 billion barrels and a 35 percent recovery rate, BP's proven reserves .. would rise by 868 million barrels -- equivalent to 4.8 percent of the group's 18.14 billion barrels of proven reserves," Aymeric De-Villaret, oil analyst at Societe Generale said in a research note.

BP, the biggest oil producer in the U.S. and biggest leaseholder in the Gulf of Mexico, has a 62 percent working interest in the block, while Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras owns 20 percent and U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips owns 18 percent.

Iain Armstrong, analyst at Brewin Dolphin, said the discovery may have implications for long-term oil prices.

"It will ease concerns about peak oil because it shows there is life left in these mature areas," he said, adding that it could be the second half of the next decade before the find is producing.

The discovery also bodes well for other exploration in that part of the Gulf of Mexico, including at Royal Dutch Shell's nearby Great White field, Jason Kenny, oil analyst at ING in Edinburgh, said.

BP shares, which had been trading slightly down ahead of the statement, closed up 4.3 percent at 541 pence, outperforming a 1.75 percent rise in the DJ Stoxx European oil and gas sector index.

The Gulf of Mexico has become increasingly important to Western oil majors as oil rich-countries such as Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Russia reserve their richest fields to be developed by their state-owned oil companies.

The Gulf is especially attractive because it offers high profit margins, due to relatively low taxation compared to countries such as Russia and Nigeria, and because of the low political risk.

As nearer-shore discoveries dry up, companies have pushed further out to sea, which has forced them to develop new technologies to detect and extract the oil.

The prospects for massive discoveries in the deep water of the Gulf of Mexico is also good news for U.S. politicians' ambitions to reduce the country's reliance on imported oil, although oil executives doubt the U.S. is capable of becoming self sufficient in oil.

One nation, seven sins

Las Vegas Sun
See Site for additional maps and larger versions

The question of evil and where it lurks has been largely ignored by the scientific community, which is why a recently released study titled “The Spatial Distribution of the Seven Deadly Sins Within Nevada” is groundbreaking: Never before has a state’s fall from grace been so precisely graphed and plotted.

Geographers from Kansas State University have used certain statistical measurements to quantify Nevada’s sins and come up with a county-by-county map purporting to show various degrees of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride in the Silver State. By culling statistics from nationwide databanks of things like sexually transmitted disease infection rates (lust) or killings per capita (wrath), the researchers came up with a sin index. This is a precision party trick — rigorous mapping of ridiculous data.

Their findings were presented Tuesday at the Association of American Geographers’ annual meeting at the Riviera, where Kansas State geography research associate Thomas Vought fielded questions while standing next to a poster of his research. Seven maps of Nevada, in seven different colors, for seven different sins.

The darker a county, the more evil it is.

Greed was calculated by comparing average incomes with the total number of inhabitants living beneath the poverty line. On this map, done in yellow, Clark County is bile (see map on Page 2).

Envy was calculated using the total number of thefts — robbery, burglary, larceny and stolen cars. Rendered in green, of course, Clark County is emerald.

Wrath was calculated by comparing the total number of violent crimes — murder, assault and rape — reported to the FBI per capita. Vought and his colleagues used the color red to illustrate wrath, so Clark County looks like a fresh welt. Washoe is slightly statistically duller. Everywhere else is a friendly pork pink.

Lust was calculated by compiling the number of sexually transmitted diseases — HIV, AIDS, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea — reported per capita. Here again, Clark and Washoe counties are worst. Carson City County is a close third.

Gluttony was calculated by counting the number of fast food restaurants per capita, and this is one category where Clark County is bested. First in deep fry goes to Carson City.

Sloth was calculated by comparing expenditures on arts, entertainment and recreation with the rate of employment. Here again Clark County is beat, scoring only average on the scale of sloth.

And pride, lastly, is most important. The root of all sins, in this study, is the aggregate of all data. Vought and his Kansas colleagues combined all data from the six other sins and averaged it into an overview of all evil. So pride, mapped in purple, shows the states two darkest bruises: counties Clark and Carson City.

Yet, in the grand scheme of things, maybe we’re not that bad. While Vought and his colleagues spent four weeks on the detailed Nevada study, they also ran the numbers on some 3,000 counties across the country, a nationwide survey of sin.

Turns out Nevada is unremarkable when compared with other states. Sure, we have a little discoloration around Washoe and Clark counties when it comes to wrath, and Southern Nevada as a whole stands out in the nationwide map of greed, but other than that, we’re almost colorless, boring even, when compared with Texas, which ranked high for gluttony, or wrath, which was concentrated in Florida and surrounding states.

Moreover, the Kansas geographers also compared the level of sin in 10 top casino markets, and while the Las Vegas Strip ranked first for greed, it could muster no better than third place for pride, the aggregate of all sins. It was the southern gambling cities — Lula, Miss.; Biloxi, Miss.; and Shreveport, La., that came out on top of the bottom. Why, exactly, remains to be seen. The Kansas geographers started this project, it seems pretty clear, for the erudite amusement; something to stand out at a 6,000-person convention consumed with the world’s heavy questions. But if Tuesday’s convention crowd was evidence, the sin study was interesting to other scholars as well. So Vought and colleagues plan to continue their national study of evil.

“It’s too much fun,” Vought said, smiling in a way that suggested, if not pride, then a good deal of pleasure.

Dramatic Save of 4 Year Old Boy From Burning Car - Video

(CNN) -- The off-duty firefighters who rushed into a burning SUV and cut a 4-year-old boy out of the seatbelt saved his life, the boy's doctor said during a press conference Tuesday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
An onlooker tries to smash the windshield of the SUV that crashed and erupted into flames.


The depth of the boy's burns "indicates to me this was a very hot fire, and he was in close contact with it," pediatric surgeon David Gourlay said. "These firefighters were clearly heroic and saved D.J.'s life."

D.J. Harper is in serious but stable condition with second- and third-degree burns on his scalp, face, back and arms, Gourlay said.

But the little boy is expected to make a full recovery thanks to a group of strangers that came to his rescue. The onlookers helped a woman and girl from their fiery SUV before off-duty firefighters cut a seatbelt to free D.J. in a harrowing rescue attempt a neighbor captured on video. Video Watch dramatic video of the rescue »

Jason Lepowski was driving down the street Sunday when a car crashed and erupted in flames. So he parked his car and ran to the vehicle to help.

"It blew up, and I was already smashing on the windshield of the vehicle because I saw the people inside," he told CNN affiliate WTMJ.

His uncle, Jerry Lepowski who lives down the street, rushed to the scene and started filming.

Neighbors and those in the area frantically began screaming for help. Flames began to fan and tires blew as neighbors struggled to find a way to shatter the windshield and pull the three people to safety.

"We're busting at the window because we saw everybody screaming," Jason Lepowski told WTMJ. "We made a little hole to get the little baby out first. Then came the mother, then we were smashing out the window. We couldn't break it."

Then they began shouting for help.

That's when neighbors, grabbing anything they could find, approached the car and started hammering the windshield with blunt objects including pipes.

"We're freaking out, and then we get the windshield open," Lepowski said.

But D.J. was still inside, trapped by a seatbelt and nobody could reach him.

"We could see the kid on fire," Lepowski said.

Off-duty Milwaukee firefighters John Rechlitz and Joel Rechlitz assisted by off-duty Milwaukee police Lt. Mark Wroblewski raced to the scene.

Without gear, backup from emergency responders or any protection from the fire, the firefighters went inside the burning vehicle to try to free the boy.

"I saw him and I saw my son's face. It was very emotional," Joel Rechlitz told WTMJ.

With the help of a knife from a neighbor they were able to cut the boy free.

On the video John Rechlitz is seen grabbing the boy and running from the vehicle as Joel grabs a hose and begins to douse his entire body.

On Monday, the three off-duty workers were honored for their heroic actions. "We took an oath as firefighters," John Rechlitz told WTMJ. "A duty to act, a willingness to serve, and that's what we were doing. Regardless if we were on duty or off duty."

At a news conference Tuesday at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, D.J.'s father, James Harper, struggled to contain his emotion as he thanked those who helped save his son.
advertisement

"I'm sorry, I'm trying to hold it together, but it's my little boy," he said. "I just want to thank everybody, the citizens of Milwaukee, for helping us.

"There are angels all around us."

Holy Sheet ..6-Year-Old Michigan Boy Hits Hole-In-One

Sports News Story - KVVU Las Vegas

ONEKAMA, Mich. -- A 6-year-old from Dearborn has made a shot most golfers just dream about -- a hole-in-one."It was just like a lucky shot that you get," Braeden Furlow told WDIV-TV.Furlow had only played golf three times before he hit the links at The Heathlands in Onekama with his parents on July 6."I was at the Heathlands and I hit the ball, the golf ball," Braeden said. "It went tumbling down the fairway and my dad said 'If this ball goes in it'll be a hole in one'. And then, before he could say 'one' -- bam, it went in."

His father, Travis Furlow, said his son teed up his yellow, SpongeBob SquarePants ball from about 86 yards out and made a solid drive with a 3-wood toward the eighth hole.The ball bounced twice on the fairway before breaking into the hole."Oh my god," said Furlow. "You want to hug your son, right? And you want to be proud of him, which I was. And at some point you go, you've got to be kidding me, he just got a hole-in-one from 86 yards.

It was awesome."Braeden said he started playing golf "sometime when I was about 5 (years old)." Both of his parents play, but neither mom nor dad have hit a shot like that."My dad's been golfing 35 years and never got a hole-in-one," Braeden said.His father tells him he should quit the game while he's ahead.

But Braeden is eager to keep playing and said he thinks he can hit a hole-in-one again."It's awesome," Braeden said.

Drink Beer Win a Trip into Space the Final Frontier

foxnews.com
The company behind the dark Irish beer Guinness will give loyal drinkers a taste of space along with their stout, but only if they win a new contest.

Guinness has reserved a seat aboard a suborbital Virgin Galactic spaceliner as one of three experience prizes in an online contest honoring the 250th birthday of the beer's brewery this year.

Founded by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic is a commercial space tourism company that plans to launch passengers on $200,000 trips to suborbital space using a fleet of SpaceShipTwo spacecraft.

The spaceliners are designed to be launched from the air by a massive WhiteKnightTwo mothership and send two pilots and six passengers on a weightless joyride.

Virgin Galactic currently plans to launch and land space tourist flights from a terminal at Spaceport America in New Mexico — which began construction earlier this month — as well as from a spaceport in Kiruna, Sweden.

The first WhiteKnightTwo carrier ship "Eve" has been flying a series of test flights this year.

Guinness officials said their space trip contest runs through Sept. 24 and promised a thrilling ride for the winner.

The launch will catapult passengers beyond Earth's atmosphere at nearly 2,500 mph (4,023 km/ph) — three times the speed of sound — to a point about 68 miles (109 km) above the planet, Guinness officials said.

Once in space, passengers will have a view of the blackness of space and unbroken vistas of the Earth for 1,000 miles (1,609 km) in every direction before re-entering the atmosphere and gliding back to its home port, they added.

The beer company announced the new contest on Wednesday to commemorate founder Arthur Guinness's signing of the 9,000-year lease on the St. James's Gate brewery in Dublin, Ireland.

Some 250 events are planned in participating countries around the world. They are open to adults of legal drinking age in their respective countries.

"Since 1759, Arthur Guinness and the Guinness brand have been behind some remarkable and hugely momentous achievements," Guinness officials said in a statement. "To continue this legacy and as part of the 250 celebrations, Guinness is giving something back to Guinness supporters around the world by offering the chance to win one of these three remarkable Guinness experiences."

The two other prizes include an undersea trip to a Guinness bar 229 feet (70 meters) below the ocean's surface near the Lofoten Islands in Norway, as well as a private live studio performance by the band The Black Eye Peas.

Virgin Galactic's carrier ships and spacecraft are being built by the California-based company Scaled Composites.

The new vehicles build on the firm's SpaceShipOne and WhiteKnight vehicles that won the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004.

For more information on the Guinness online contest visit: www.guinness.com.

Blind Man Sees with Tooth Implanted in Eye

thedailymail.co.uk

When Martin Jones met his wife four years ago, he never imagined that one day he would get to see what she looked like.

The 42-year-old builder was left blind after an accident at work more than a decade ago.

But a remarkable operation - which implants part of his tooth in his eye - has now pierced his world of darkness.

The procedure, performed fewer than 50 times before in Britain, uses the segment of tooth as a holder for a new lens grafted from his skin.

'The doctors took the bandages off and it was like looking through water and then I saw this figure and it was her,' he said today.

'She's wonderful and lovely. It was unbelievable to see her for the first time.'

He added: 'When I found out there was a chance I would get my sight back, the first person I wanted to see was her.'

Mr Jones, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, married his wife Gill, 50, four years ago.

By that time he had already spent eight years without his sight after a tub of white hot aluminium exploded in his face at work in a scrapyard.

He suffered 37 per cent burns and had to wear a special body stocking for 23 hours a day. He also had his left eye removed.

But surgeons were able to save the right eye, even though he was unable to see through it.

At first specialists in Nottingham tried to save his sight using stem cells from a donor but the attempt failed.

It was only when a revolutionary new operation was pioneered at the Sussex Eye Clinic in Brighton that he was given a chance to have his sight back.

During the procedure, a minute section of a patient's tooth is removed, reshaped and chiselled through to grip the man-made lens which is then placed in its core.

It is implanted under an eyelid where it becomes covered in tissue.

The process requires a living tooth as an implant because doctors suggest there are chances the eye would reject a plastic equivalent.

So a canine - which is the best option due to its shape and size - was taken out of Mr Jones' mouth.

A patch of skin is then taken from the inside of the cheek and placed in the eye for two months, where it gradually acquires its own blood supply.

The tooth segment is finally transplanted into the eye socket. The flap of grafted skin is then partially lifted from the eye and placed over its new sturdy base.

Finally, surgeons cut a hole in the grafted cornea to let light through.

'I feel fantastic getting my sight back,' he said. 'I can't really describe it - it's beyond words. I was blind for 12 years and when my sight came back everything had changed.

'The first car I saw when my sight was restored was a Smart car and I couldn't stop laughing - I'd never seen one before and I thought it had been chopped in half.

'Getting my sight back has changed my life. It is such a precious gift and you don't really appreciate it until it is taken away .

'I have been so fortunate that my sight has been returned . I find it such a simple pleasure being able to see what is going on in the world.'

The eight-hour operation, pioneered by surgeon Christopher Liu, is designed to help patients who have corneal blindness but who are not suitable for traditional corneal transplants.

'When I first heard about the technique I couldn't believe it. I don't think many people can,' said Mr Jones.

'My friends just don't believe me . They think I'm pulling their leg or have just made it up.

'But when I take my glasses off they say 'oh my God' because my eye looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. They're just amazed at it.'

Mr Liu is a corneal specialist and Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon based at Sussex Eye Hospital, Brighton.. He is also President of the British Society for Refractive Surgery.

Palin resigns as governor, leaves plans secret

AP – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announces that she is stepping down from her position as Governor in Wasilla, …news.yahoo.com

By RACHEL D'ORO, Associated Press Writer Rachel D'oro, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 8 mins ago

WASILLA, Alaska – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin abruptly announced Friday she is resigning from office at the end of the month, a shocking move that rattled the Republican party but left open the possibility she would seek a run for the White House in 2012.

Palin, 45, and her staff kept her future plans shrouded in mystery, and it was unclear if the controversial hockey mom would quietly return to private life or begin laying the foundation for a presidential bid.

Palin's spokesman, David Murrow, said the governor didn't say anything to him about this being her "political finale." He said he interpreted Palin's comment about working outside government as reflecting her current job only.

"She's looking forward to serving the public outside the governor's chair," he said.

And Pam Pryor, a spokeswoman for Palin's political action committee SarahPAC, said the group continues to accept donations on its Web site, with an uptick in funds after Palin's announcement.

In a hastily arranged news conference at her home in suburban Wasilla, Palin said she will formally step down July 26, and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the governor's picnic in Fairbanks. She said she had decided against running for re-election as Alaska's governor, and believed it was best to leave office even though she had two years left to her term.

"Many just accept that lame duck status, and they hit that road. They draw a paycheck. They kind of milk it. And I'm not going to put Alaskans through that," she said.

The 2008 vice presidential nominee was seen as a likely presidential contender in 2012 and had proved formidable among the party's base. But the last week brought a highly critical piece in Vanity Fair magazine, with unnamed campaign aides questioning if Palin was ever really prepared for the presidency.

The backbiting continued through the week, with follow-up articles recounting the nasty infighting that plagued her failed bid. Her advisers sniped with other Republicans, underscoring the deeply divided GOP looking for its next standard bearer.

Meghan Stapleton, Palin's personal spokeswoman, shot down speculation that ranged wildly from Palin dropping out of politics altogether to eyeing runs against fellow Alaska Republicans U.S. Rep. Don Young and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Palin's comment about serving outside government refers to the present, she said.

Stapleton, however, said it's too early to say whether Palin would seek the presidency. In the meantime, the governor will continue to work "toward affecting positive change as a citizen without a title right now," she said.

"Her vision is what's best for Alaska, which translates into what's best for America," Stapleton said.

Palin's resignation, timed on the eve of the July 4 holiday when many Americans had already begun a three-day weekend, seemed designed to avoid publicity. She alluded to how she could help change the country and help military members — code that she didn't think her time on the national stage was over.

Jerry McBeath, a veteran political science professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, called the pending resignation a "smart move," both for Palin and the state.

"Alaska is an isolated stage from which to operate if you want to figure in American national politics. I don't know what she has in mind. Some TV show or some national radio show. There are opportunities for her, I'm sure."

But political analyst Larry Sabato, in Charlottesville, Va., said Palin's announcement left many confused.

"It's absolutely bizarre, and I think it eliminates her from serious consideration for the presidency in 2012," he said.

Palin said her family weighed heavily in her decision.

"I polled the most important people in my life, my kids, where the count was unanimous," she said. "Well, in response to asking, 'Hey, you want me to make a positive difference and fight for all our children's future from outside the governor's office?' It was four yeses and one 'Hell, yeah!" And the 'Hell, yeah' sealed it."

Palin's decision not to seek re-election was a familiar one for a potential presidential candidate. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney chose not to seek another term as he geared up for an unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has announced he won't seek another term, giving him plenty of free time ahead of a potential 2012 bid.

Palin emerged from relative obscurity nearly a year ago when she was tapped as then Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate.

She was a controversial figure from the start, with comedian Tina Fey famously imitating her elaborate updo and folksy "You betcha!" on "Saturday Night Live."

In the presidential race, Palin became the butt of talk-show jokes and Democratic criticism after news broke that the Republican Party had spent $150,000 or more on a designer wardrobe, accessories and hair and makeup services for her. The high-end spending spree contrasted with the down-to-earth image she sought to craft for herself and became an unwelcome issue for the McCain campaign.

She didn't leave the limelight once McCain lost the presidency. She recently led a public spat with "Late Show" host David Letterman over a joke he made about one of her daughters being "knocked up" by New York Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez during the governor's recent visit to New York. Palin's 18-year-old daughter, Bristol, is an unwed, teenage mother. Letterman later apologized for the joke.

Palin also complained that her 14-month-old son, Trig, who was diagnosed with Down's syndrome, had been "mocked and ridiculed by some mean-spirited adults recently." She didn't elaborate.

Fred Malek, a Republican strategist who has advised Palin over the past year, said Palin was "really unhappy with the way her life was going."

"She felt that the pressures of the job combined with her family obligations and the demands and desires to help other Republican candidates led her to decide not to run again. Once that decision was made, she realized, why not do it now and let the lieutenant governor take over and get a head start on his election," Malek said.

Palin was first elected in 2006 on a populist platform. But her popularity has waned as she became embroiled in partisan politics following her return from the presidential campaign. Her term would have ended in 2010.

Palin expressed frustration with her current role as governor.

"I cannot stand here as your governor and allow the millions of dollars and all that time go to waste just so I can hold the title of governor," Palin said, referring to the alleged impact of multiple ethics complaints against her, most of which have been dismissed.

Palin remaining as governor is not good for Alaska, given the "political bloodsport" by her critics, Stapleton said. Stepping down is a "fighter's move," Stapleton said, essentially Palin stepping around political barriers in her way and pursuing her vision.

Her decision even took Parnell by surprise. He said he was told on Wednesday evening, and was not aware that any presidential ambitions were behind the move. U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said Palin didn't inform him during a 45-minute meeting Wednesday.

Palin's announcement comes after several recent blows to the Republican party. Ensign, a member of the Christian ministry Promise Keepers, stepped down from the Senate Republican leadership last month after admitting he had an affair for much of last year with a woman on his campaign staff who was married to one of his Senate aides. Ensign later disclosed he had helped the woman's husband get two jobs during the affair.

A government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, wants the Senate ethics committee and the Federal Election Commission to investigate.

Just days after news of Ensign's affair broke, Sanford admitted an affair with a woman in Argentina. Some lawmakers are now calling for his resignation. Before the admission, Sanford had been missing from the state for five days visiting his lover. He had slipped his security detail, lied to his staff about where he was and failed to transfer power to the lieutenant governor in case of a state emergency.

The party's troubles seem to have left two prominent 2012 prospects, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and 2008 presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, unscathed, however.

Palin has the potential to make far more money in the private sector than the $125,000 or so she has been making as governor.

Palin already had a deal with publisher HarperCollins to produce her memoirs, with publication planned for next spring. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Six-figure book deals are common for high-profile politicos — President Barack Obama has made millions on his best-sellers — as are lucrative speaking tours and even their own talk shows after they leave office. One 2008 presidential candidate, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, landed his own show on the Fox News Channel. A Fox News spokesman said Friday that there have been no discussions with Palin.

WinANewLife.com - Become a Millionaire

English banker Andrew Paul auctions home, Aston Martin, Sealine boat on WinANewLife.com

by Catey Hill
nydailynews.com staff writer

Want a new life? How about the life of a millionaire Brit?

It could soon be yours, for the bargain price of only 20 pounds (about $33).

English banker Andrew Paul is auctioning off his life after his recent divorce, saying he wants to "make a fresh start," Luxist.com reports.

And it's a pretty fabulous life, up for grabs are his £1.1m ($1.8m) five-bedroom house, a £160,000 Aston Martin DBS and his £200,000 Sealine 35 Sport motor boat. The first prize is either the property or the car plus the speedboat and £85,000 in cash to help with insurance and fees. The first prize winner can also choose opt for £1 million in cash. There are also ten runner up prizes of his and hers sets of Omega Seamaster watches.














"My wealth is self-made. I have worked hard my entire career but now I want to slow the pace of my life a little," Paul told the Daily Mail.

You can check out Paul's life at WinANewLife.com. In order to win you need more than luck, you also need a little skill. Once you pay the fee you need to estimate where a golf ball would end up in a photograph. Winners will be determined based on who ever is closest to the actual placement. The competition is scheduled to end August 19th but could end sooner if the tickets are all sold.

Paul hopes to sell 200,000 tickets. If he does sell that number of tickets, he will make a hefty profit.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Baldwin Quit 'Im a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here' Bug Larvae in Leg! YUCK!

Got Bug Larvae in Your Leg? Baldwin Does
PopEater

Stephen Baldwin
Getty Images
If you ask us, there's no better way to start off a news week than with some seriously nauseating Stephen Baldwin news. The always interesting actor has quit 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!' for a reason that we feel is totally legitimate: He has lots of insect larvae in his leg.
Baldwin says that within the first few days of taping the reality show in the Costa Rican jungle, he received 125+ bug bites, including 30 on his left leg. "Within about 72 hours they were these half dollar-sized lumps under my skin that were probably about an inch thick and were situations where they just weren't a reaction that were the same as the others - 123 so to speak," Baldwin told blogtalkradio.

The actor says that the medic on staff "explained that in his opinion at that point he didn't think that it was the 'implantation of insect larvae into my flesh', but that - oh gosh - that's what it could be... So they tested these things and sure enough, Stevie B was 'pregnant'." In order to rid himself of said larvae, Baldwin had to undergo a medical procedure to remove them ... which he says he videotaped. What does such a procedure look like? The "creepiest thing that you could think of," Baldwin says.

Before his journey to the jungle, Baldwin stopped by the PopEater offices to discuss what his demise might be ... and what do you know, he thought it'd be bugs! However, he was talking more in the sense of eating them than birthing them... tomato, tomahto.

Super Pot 'KUSH' Is Super Bad

NBC Chicago
Forty pounds of weed in a federal court room can make a point.

In this case, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk displayed a huge pile of uber-potent marijuana at the Dirksen Federal Building to say this: super pot is super bad.

"Kush" is the street name for a type of marijuana making the suburban rounds with THC levels more than five times higher than pot from the early 1990s. Congressman Kirk stood before nearly $200,000 worth of the drug because he wants stronger penalties for selling it.

"If you make as much money selling pot as cocaine, you should face the same penalties," Kirk said of the marijuana that can go for as much as $600 an ounce.

Kirk was joined Monday by Lake County law enforcement officials, who have seen more "Kush" in recent years. The drug is more potent because of the advances in hydroponics and the control of light, temperature, humidity -- and ultimately, THC levels.

	Kush
	A strain of Cannabis, almost solely of the Indica variety. The name "Kush" originates from the Hindu-Kush mountains where it was cultivated for thousands of years. This sweet smelling plant is part of the Cannabis Indica family, which leads the plant to be short and squat in appearance. Some forms of Kush, however, are in fact a hybrid between Cannabis Indica and Cannabis Sativa...which leads to greater harvests. Varieties of the Kush plant include,(But are not limited to), Hindu Kush, OG Kush, Purple Kush, Master Kush. Many crossbreeds exist as well.

WHAT KUSH LOOKS LIKE OUT OF THE BAG

18 Year Old Jordan Steeves Makes Water Bottle Out of Cardboard

EVERETT, Wash. - Jordan Steeves hopes to revolutionize the bottled water industry.

The 18-year-old got inspiration for his senior project from his dad, after a trip to Miami.

"He said the beach was amazing and nice," said Steeves, "but he kept stepping on water bottles."

With news of the dangers accumulating plastic is having on the ocean and aquatic life, Steeves began researching an idea he had. He wondered if you could make a water bottle out of cardboard.

Jordan Steeves just won a science contest at WSU for "Cykle," his hybrid cardboard/plastic water bottle.

After three failed prototypes, he came up with, "Cykle." It's a hybrid cardboard/plastic water bottle.

"The bottle is made up of 70 percent renewable material paper and the rest is 30 percent plastic which is on the outside and inside to keep the water in," Steeves explained.

Steeves formed a company and just won a science contest at WSU for "Cykle." He and his school were each awarded $5,000. He'll use the money for college.

"I'm attending Western Washington University and I'm gonna major in environmental science," Steeves said.

If you know any investors, Steeves says he's still looking.





I wish I could say CYKLE water carton's are available in stores but that is not the case. The start up cost for this kind of product takes thousands of dollars. I had to decide whether to take out a loan for a business or college. Being the first person in my family to be able to go to a university, I chose college. But being a persistent student and entrepreneur I have learned from experience that anything can be accomplished if you try hard enough. I believe in this product but I need your help to make it a possibility. Together we can make a difference in educating the public on the damage plastic bottles do to our environment and slowly but surely replace plastic bottles with environmentally friendly bottles, like Cykle. Your donations are greatly appreciated.
Thank you kindly, Jordan Steeves.
CYKLEWATER.COM DONATE

Israel Develops Military Robot Snake

Wednesday, June 10, 2009


Israeli defense researchers are working on a robot snake that can sneak through cracks and into buildings to send back sound and video of enemy movements — or even plant explosives.

That's according to the Jerusalem Post, which cites a news report from Israel's Channel 2.

A video clip shows the six-foot-long robot, covered in camouflage, winding its way through rocks and tree stumps, its "head" a flat camera lens ringed by LED lights.

The "snake" can also prop up its front sections vertically to peer over obstacles.

It's remote-controlled by a soldier, who uses a laptop both to guide the robot and to see and hear what it's feeding back.

The Israel Defense Forces plan to equip combat units with search-and-surveillance models, which could also be useful to find survivors trapped within collapsed buildings.

Future models might be used to plant bombs in enemy facilities.

Shia LeBeouf Got His Sense of Humor from Watching his Parents have Sex?

AP

June 27, 2007: Actor Shia LaBeouf poses on the press line at the Los Angeles premiere of "Transformers" in this file photo in Los Angeles.

Shia LeBeouf is back to talking about his family in an inappropriate manner, this time saying he got his sense of humor from watching his parents “have sex.”

The comment was the second time he has surprised fans with his thoughts on his parents after he called his mother.

“My humor came from seeing my parents have sex, smoke weed, my mom being naked – just weird hippie stuff, twisted R-rated humor,” he told Parade magazine.

LeBeouf, 23, admitted that he is indeed battling a few demons, adding that all actors are.

“They’re all in pain. It’s a profession of bottom-feeders and heartbroken people,” he said. “Most actors on most days don’t think they’re worthy,” he added. “I have no idea where this insecurity comes from, but it’s a God-sized hole. If I knew it, I’d fill it and I’d be on my way.”

The “Transformers” star, who was arrested on a DUI in July of 2008, also admitted to being an alcoholic.

“Why am I an alcoholic? I haven’t a [expletive] clue.”

May 4, 2009

LOS ANGELES — Forget his “Transformers” co-star Megan Fox, actor Shia LaBeouf apparently thinks his mother is the “sexiest” woman he knows.

In a new interview with Playboy magazine, the actor reveals some unusual thoughts about the woman who gave him life, reports Star magazine.

"Probably the sexiest woman I know is my mother," he says. "She's an ethereal angel. Nobody looks like that woman. If I could meet my mother and marry her, I would. I would be with my mother now, if she weren't my mother, as sick as that sounds."

According to the interview, which Star Magazine says it obtained, while the “Transformers” star was growing up, his mother often liked to walk around the house naked, even when young LaBeouf’s young friends were over.

"All of them would just be naked around the house,” LaBeouf tells Playboy of his mom and her friends in the June issue. “That was strange for me, and it was really bizarre when my friends were there. You've got your little buds over, and Mom's, like, playing naked connect the dots or whatever. She's in the middle of goddess-group time, where it's literally a bunch of naked women tracing auras around one another's bodies with incense and then sitting together and humming for prolonged periods of time."

The actor also said that marijuana use was casual, but that he saw what “drugs can do to you.”

Holy Sheet! Electric Train Accident - Video

This is a video taken over seas somewhere that they use electric trains that have the high voltage lines that run over head. See what happens when this guy touches the lines...One man in India Blames everyone standing on the roof of an express train, he demands something and blames them he will hold the High Voltage Electric Wire Running over the Train if his demand will not be accepted. Actually he was travelling in the Mahananda Express, en route from Delhi to Alipurduar. He had embarked upon the train from Aligarh.In his Procrastination he holds the wire and within fraction of seconds the High voltage passes the body and he dies with a huge sparks and fire.

Bodies Found from Air France Flight 447

msnbc.msn.com
Brazil: Bodies found near Air France crash site
Plane crashed into Atlantic earlier this week, killing all 228 aboard.
Brazilian search crews found two male bodies and debris in the Atlantic Ocean Saturday near the area where an Air France jet is believed to have crashed, an air force spokesman said. The first bodies from the crash were found early in the morning, said Jorge Amaral, the spokesman.

The bodies were picked up about 400 miles northeast of the Fernando de Noronha islands off Brazil's northern coast. Searchers also found a suitcase containing a plane ticket for the flight, he said.
"It was confirmed with Air France that the ticket number corresponds to a passenger on the flight," he said.

In earlier reports, the agency investigating the crash of Flight 447 said Air France had not replaced instruments that measure air speed on the plane, which the manufacturer had recommended.

Agency head Paul-Louis Arslanian said some problems had been detected with the instruments on the Airbus A330, the model that disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on May 31.
Airbus had recommended that airlines replace the instruments on the A330, Arslanian said. The head of the crash investigation said Air France had not changed the instruments known as Pitot tubes on the plane that crashed.

Investigators said that signals sent by the jet before it disappeared show its autopilot was not on.
"We also saw messages that show the automatic pilot wasn't working," probe chief Alain Bouillard added.

However, it was not clear if the autopilot had been switched off by the pilots or had stopped working because it received conflicting airspeed readings. Arslanian said investigators are analyzing 24 messages sent automatically by the plane during the last minutes of the flight.

Plane manufacturer Airbus says the investigation found the flight received inconsistent readings from different instruments as it struggled in a massive thunderstorm.
'Damaged systems'

Arslanian warned against jumping to conclusions. He said planes can be flown safely "with damaged systems."

An Air France memo Friday said it is replacing Pitot tubes on all medium- and long-haul Airbus jets. Investigators are searching a zone of several hundred square miles for the debris.
Arslanian said is is vital to locate a beacon called a "pinger" that should be attached to the cockpit voice and data recorders, now presumed to be deep in the Atlantic, he said.

"We have no guarantee that the pinger is attached to the recorders," Arslanian said.
Investigators are trying to determine the location of the debris in the ocean based on the height and speed of the plane at the time the last message was received. Currents could also have scattered debris far along the ocean floor, he said.

"You see the complexity of the problem," he said.

Laurent Kerleguer, an engineer specialized in the ocean floor working with the investigation team, said the zone seen as the most likely site of the debris was 15,112 feet at its deepest point and 2,835 feet at its shallowest.

Water salinity and temperature can affect the distance that the beacon's signal can travel, Kerleguer said.

The Airbus A330 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappeared nearly four hours after takeoff on Sunday night, killing all 228 aboard. It was Air France's deadliest plane crash and the world's worst commercial air accident since 2001

Woman Suicide Attempt Under Train Fails, She Survives

In a video that has to be seen to be believed, an Israeli woman, apparently attempting to commit suicide, lays down The woman approaches the train tracks and lays down on them just as a train is incoming. A railway guard attempts to flag her off but is unsuccessful. The train rides right over her, and afterward she just gets up after which she gets up, picks up her shoes and walks away with minor injuries.

The police, who are still searching for the woman according to spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, believe she tried to commit suicide or is mentally disturbed.
According to local broadcaster Channel 2, police later caught up with the woman and escorted her to a local hospital, were she received minor medical treatment for bruising to the head.

She was then moved to psychiatric hospital for further evaluation.

Watch the video below.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Bing Beats Yahoo | Microsoft Buys Yahoo?

blog.statcounter.com

Bing Overtakes Yahoo!

New York (US) and Dublin (Ireland); Friday, 5th June, 2009: Microsoft's Bing overtook Yahoo! as the number two search engine in the United States and worldwide Thursday (4th June) according to data from StatCounter Global Stats. StatCounter says that Bing grabbed market share from Google.
"It remains to be seen if Bing falls away after the initial novelty and promotion but at first sight it looks like Microsoft is on to a winner," commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter. "Steve Ballmer is quoted as saying that he wanted Microsoft to become the second biggest search engine within five years. Following the breakdown in talks to acquire Yahoo! at a cost of $40bn it looks as if he may have just achieved that with Bing much sooner and a lot cheaper than anticipated."
StatCounter's analysis for Thursday finds that in the US Bing leapfrogged Yahoo to take second place on 16.28%. Yahoo! has 10.22%. Google still commands the US search engine market with 71.47%.
StatCounter data globally finds that Bing at 5.62% has taken a narrow lead over Yahoo! (5.13%). Google worldwide retains 87.62% of the market.

Yahoo: No Pressure For Deal Despite Bing
pcmag.com
06.05.09

Yahoo Inc CEO Carol Bartz elaborated on her views on a potential Internet search partnership with Microsoft Corp, even as she stressed that Yahoo was not under any pressure to do a deal and downplayed Microsoft's newly-released search engine.
discuss Total posts: 1

by Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo Inc CEO Carol Bartz elaborated on her views on a potential Internet search partnership with Microsoft Corp, even as she stressed that Yahoo was not under any pressure to do a deal and downplayed Microsoft's newly-released search engine.

"Yahoo doesn't have to do anything with Microsoft about anything," Bartz said at an investor conference.

"We are a damned big, important site," she added later speaking at the Bank of America U.S. Technology conference.

Bartz said that combining Yahoo's search technology with Microsoft could provide important benefits of scale, which could improve the company's monetization of its service. And she said a partnership could save Yahoo up to $700 million in costs—a more conservative figure than some investors had in mind.

The speech was the second recent comment by Bartz regarding a potential deal. Bartz told the audience at the All Things Digital conference last week that any deal for its search assets would require a partner with a "boatload" of money and the right technology.

The comments also come as Yahoo continues to lose ground to Google Inc, which has more than 64 percent share of the U.S. search market, and as Microsoft releases a new version of its search engine, dubbed Bing.

Bartz said Bing will give Microsoft some "uplift" in the search market but will not fundamentally change the competitive dynamics there.

"They're not going to get scale through Bing. They're going to get some temporary interest," said Bartz.

Shares of Yahoo were off 51 cents or 3.1 percent at $16.11 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

Bartz became chief executive officer of Yahoo in January, replacing co-founder Jerry Yang, whose tenure was marked by Yahoo's rejection of a $47.5 billion acquisition offer from Microsoft.

A priority for Yahoo will be reducing the infrastructure, Bartz said, citing inefficiencies in the development of its various Web sites and unnecessary hoops that advertisers must jump through to buy ads on its sites.

Asked about how much money Yahoo could save through a deal combining its search assets with Microsoft's, Bartz said the potential savings were "not much more" than $500 million to $700 million.

That's less than some of the previous figures that have been cited. A 2008 Microsoft deal proposal, brokered by activist investor Carl Icahn—who now sits on Yahoo's board of directors—and separate from the Microsoft acquisition offer for Yahoo, had pegged the annual cost savings of a search partnership at between $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion.

Yahoo responded at the time that no more than $750 million of direct cash costs would be achievable from a sale of Yahoo's search assets.

"People in the past have thrown around big numbers, but they didn't know what they were talking about. And by the way, there's been many cuts since then," Bartz said on Wednesday.

She also noted that any deal with Microsoft would be akin to Yahoo buying Microsoft's Office software, and noted, in response to a question, that she believed it might make sense for Yahoo to purchase Microsoft's money-losing Internet assets, instead of the other way around.

Yahoo is the No. 2 search engine, with 20.4 percent share of the U.S. market in April, versus third-ranked Microsoft's 8.2 percent share, according to comScore.

Bartz also said the company's top priority in the search business on cellphones is to attract users, rather than to make money.

"Right now to be honest, monetization is the last thing on my mind," Bartz said. "I want the audience."

And she said that Yahoo is not interested in acquiring a large company, but small, "tuck-in" acquisitions of technology or content would represent a good use of Yahoo's cash.