Jewel colours or winter white? Perfectly simple or a theatrical flourish that show-cases the ingenuity of American design? Designer, with impeccable ethnic-minority credentials (that would be someone with Mayflower ancestors, then), or all-American waspy gods such as Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren (both of whom are, inevitably, Jewish - see how complicated this ethnic thing is)?
And the plot thickens. The inaugural gown, according to Carl Sferrazza Anthony, a historian who has written extensively about First Ladies, is a metaphor for the role. No wonder that speculation surrounding Michelle Obama's outfits threatens to rival the great Labradoodle versus Portuguese water dog debate and possibly even overtake theories about Madonna's new, new face. When Women's Wear Daily (WWD), the fashion industry gospel, recently ran 35 sketches of proposals from some of the world's leading, and lesser known, designers, its website received six million hits. Revenge of the fashion nerd or what? This is important, not just because in view of the Carla (Bruni) effect, America is crying out for a stylish First Lady after decades of what can most kindly be described as matronly chic in the White House, but because what Mrs O wears is likely to end up one day in the Smithsonian, one of America's most venerated museums.
And so the fever continues. Sheath or pouff? Satin or lace? Glittery or understated? Will she plump for a pillar of White House dressing, such as Oscar de la Renta, a slick designer of patrician South American extraction who understands every nuance of political protocol and who has successfully dressed Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush? Or will she remain loyal to Maria Pinto, an unknown name until about six minutes ago, but one who has so far served her very well? Or might she throw caution to the wind on the basis that you only live once and to hell with the patriots, and go for something French to show that she's backing her husband's new, Euro-friendly promises?
The blogosphere is phosphorescent with rumour and, for once, the blogosphere may have a point. For all the fireworks surrounding the clothes that women in the public eye wear today, a surprisingly small number of outfits become totemic. Diana's wildly romantic wedding meringue on an uncharacteristically hot July day in London, 1981; the demure, pink bouclée suit that Jackie Kennedy wore in Dallas the afternoon that JFK was assassinated in 1963; Dior's New Look suit, launched on an incredulous, glamour-starved public in 1947 - have become freighted with a social significance that elevates their aesthetics into eloquent parcels of visual history.

Ref:http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article5511337.ece

President-Elect Barack Obama sets out on his final journey to the White House on Saturday with a train ride to Washington joined by "everyday Americans".

Barack Obama sets out on his final journey to the White House today with a train ride to Washington.

The journey from Philadelphia, with a stop in Delaware to collect Vice President-Elect Joe Biden, will emulate a pre-inauguration tour by civil war President Abraham Lincoln, Obama's political hero.
It will be the start of a programme of events leading up to his inauguration next Tuesday.
Mr Obama will open a star-studded concert at Washington's Lincoln Memorial on Sunday. Then on Monday he will attend an event honouring Martin Luther King Jr. before joining volunteers in the Washington area.
The train ride has been billed as part of Mr Obama's commitment to making the festivities as accessible as possible, though most of the members of the public joining him on board were involved in his campaign or have met him during his extraordinary rise to the presidency.
They include Randy Wehrman, a lifelong Republican who joined Obama's cause in Iowa and was comforted by the then candidate when his wife died of cancer.
Matt Kuntz, a former army officer who met Obama during a campaign stop last year, has worked to improve mental health screening for soldiers returning from Iraq. Kuntz's stepbrother, Chris Dana, committed suicide after returning from the Persian Gulf.
Lisa Hazirjian, a professor of history, recruited volunteers from the gay community in Ohio and Pennsylvania for the Obama campaign. She has said that while on the train she hopes to bend his ear about proposed legislation banning workplace discrimination against homosexuals.
Despite the publicity about the openness of this year's events, critics are pointing out that previous inaugurations entailed more free events.
Apart from the Sunday concert, there are no events that don't require a ticket or an invitation. The Neighbourhood Ball, which is the premiere official event where the Barack and Michelle Obama will hold their first dance of the night, gave away only 1,000 out of 5,000 tickets to Washington residents.
Others were sold cheaply at $25 (£17) but on a website that those in the know, Obama staffers and volunteers, were reportedly told about first.
Ron Kaufman, an organiser of the 1989 inauguration of George Bush snr, remembered holding a dozen events with considerable access to the general public. "The first thing he said to me was: 'I want to make this as open as possible.' He was fanatical about it," Mr Kaufman told the Washington Post.
The late Ronald Brown, who chaired Bill Clinton's 1993 inaugural committee, said at the time: "This inaugural is going to be an open inaugural, an accessible inaugural and a dignified inaugural that very much reflects the kind of campaign that Bill Clinton and Al Gore ran."
Reagan's second inauguration in 1985 featured several all day concerts, not just one.
Obama transition aides have emphasised that Americans can "take part" in the Neighbourhood Ball and the Youth Ball – the other cheap event – on the internet.
Obama and his organisers have rejected the traditional fireworks show, the easiest way of providing mass entertainment and celebrating the new presidency, for fear of appearing too celebratory in such dark times for the nation.
The omission was regarded as strange by those involved in previous festivities. "The symbolism is all wrong not to do it," said Craig Shirley, who worked on Ronald Reagan's second inauguration. "There isn't anybody who doesn't like fireworks."
A new USA Today/Gallup poll showed that Mr Obama will start his presidency with immense goodwill and high expectations from the American public. A majority of those surveyed said he the Democrat would be able to meet his top ten campaign promises, while 70 per cent thought the nation would be better in four years at the end of his first term.
Mr Obama spent Friday in the struggling industrial state of Ohio, where he visited a factory manufacturing parts for wind turbines, a fitting backdrop to promote alternative energy.
He was promoting his plan for $825 billion (£565 billion) in new spending and tax cuts to spur the troubled economy, which has been drafted by Democrat leaders in Congress.
Debate will begin after his inauguration and the plan could run into strong objections from Republicans unconvinced at the purpose of much of the spending.
Mr Obama has already scored his first big victory in Congress, winning Senate approval on Thursday to spend the second half of the $700 billion fund to bail out the country's teetering financial system agreed in the autumn.

Ref:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/4272883/Barack-Obama-journey-to-White-House-begins-on-the-train.html

According to media outlets, at least three heavily armored Cadillac limousines are being built by General Motors under the supervision of the U.S. Secret Service for use by Barack Obama when he takes office as President in January 2008.1
The three cars are the latest in 100 years of special vehicles made for the U.S. President. The first fleet made in 1909 for William Howard Taft had cars that were only minimally different from the Pierce-Arrow or White steam-powered cars on which they were based

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.

He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal, he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?"

"You don't owe me anything," she replied "Mother has taught us never to accept payment for a kindness."

He said... "Then I thank you from my heart."
As the boy ( Dr. Howard Kelly) left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and Man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.

Years later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes.

Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor's gown, he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally, she looked and something caught her attention on the side as she read these words.....

"Paid in full with one glass of milk." (Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.

Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed:
"Thank You, GOD, that Your love has spread abroad through human hearts and hands."

NOW YOU HAVE TWO CHOICES.
A. You can send this page on and spread a positive message of Kindness and Love or
B. Ignore it and pretend it never touched you.

More than 90% of back pain is caused by muscle weakness in the back or the abdomen or both. You can take care of back pain & prevent it from recurring by maintaining correct alignment & good posture into your unconscious patterns that more you through the day & by strengthening the muscle groups that sustain it.

Below are some tips to help to prevent and overcome lower back pain.

Good Posture
The first step is to become aware of your body, so that when you're holding yourself stiff, you instantly recognize the tension in your muscles standing or sitting, you should put minimal strain on the muscles of your lower back, by pressuring the spine's natural curve.

Make The Right Moves
Lift using your leg muscles, not your arms and back. If you need to pick up something heavy, like a grocery bag or a packed suitcase, bend at your knee and lift it, keeping your back straight. Outdoors, use a backpack rather than a shoulder bag, it will distribute your weight more evenly.

Level Of Height
Bring your work, food or reading to a position that allows you to keep your eyes straight ahead, your head high, and which does not require you to crane your neck forward.

Sleep Right
Avoid sleeping on your stomach. When the stomach sags downwards, it tends to arch your back, increasing the lumbar curve and your pain. Sleeping on your back can be similarly uncomfortable, for it tends to increase the lumbar curve.

Sleeping on the side with legs bent at knees tends to minimize the spinal stress by straightening the lumber curve. Try placing one or two pillows under your knee, this is known as "lazy S" position, and the pillow under the knee tends to pull your hips upwards, flattening the lumbar curve and reducing the tension in this area.

Exercise Programme
Before exercising you should warm up with slow, rhythmic exercises; if you haven't exercised in some time, you can warm up by walking. Inhale deeply before each repetition of an exercise and exhale when performing each repetition. It is important to exercise regularly, every other day.

What can you do to stay healthy and prevent disease? You can get certain screening tests, take preventive medicine if you need it, and practice healthy behaviours.

The most important things you can do to stay healthy are:
Screening Tests For Men: What You Need And When

Screening tests can find diseases early when they are easier to treat. Health experts from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force have made recommendations, based
on scientific evidence, about testing for the conditions below. Talk to your doctor about which ones apply to you and when and how often you should be tested.

Daily Steps To Health
Ø Get recommended screening tests.
Ø Be tobacco free.
Ø Be physically active.
Ø Eat a healthy diet.
Ø Stay at a healthy weight.
Ø Take preventive medicines if you need them.

Obesity: Have your body mass index (BMI) calculated to screen for obesity. (BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.) You can also find your
own BMI with the BMI calculator from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/.

High Cholesterol: Have your cholesterol checked regularly starting at age 35. If you are younger than 35, talk to your doctor about whether to have your
cholesterol checked if
Ø You have diabetes.
Ø You have high blood pressure.
Ø Heart disease runs in your family.
Ø You smoke.

High Blood Pressure: Have your blood pressure checked frequently.
Colorectal Cancer: Have a test for colorectal cancer starting at age 50. Your doctor can help you decide which test is right for you. If you have a family history of
colorectal cancer, you may need to be screened earlier.

Diabetes: Have a test for diabetes if you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

Depression: Your emotional health is as important as your physical health. If you have felt "down," sad, or hopeless over the last 2 weeks or have felt little
interest or pleasure in doing things, you may be depressed. Talk to your doctor about being screened for depression.

Sexually Transmitted Infections: Talk to your doctor to see whether you should be tested for gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, or HIV screening.

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: If you are between the ages of 65 and 75 and have ever smoked (100 or more cigarettes during your lifetime), you need to be
screened once for abdominal aortic aneurysm, which is an abnormally large or swollen blood vessel in your abdomen.

Compared to smokers, your…
1. l Stroke risk is reduced to that of a person who never smoked after 5 to 15 years of not smoking
2. l Cancers of the mouth, throat, and esophagus risks are halved 5 years after quitting
3. l Cancer of the larynx risk is reduced after quitting
4. l Coronary heart disease risk is cut by half 1 year after quitting and is nearly the same as someone who never smoked 15 years after quitting
5. l Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease risk of death is reduced after you quit Lung cancer risk drops by as much as half 10 years after quitting
6. l Ulcer risk drops after quitting
7. l Bladder cancer risk is halved a few years after quitting
8. l Peripheral artery disease goes down after quitting
8. l Cervical cancer risk is reduced a few years after quitting
10. l Low birth weight baby risk drops to normal if you quit before pregnancy or during your first trimester the benefits of quitting

Are you one of most smokers who want to quit? Then try following this advice.

1. Don't smoke any number or any kind of cigarette. If you try to smoke fewer cigarettes, but do not stop completely, soon
you'll be smoking the same amount again. The only safe choice is to quit completely.
2. Write down why you want to quit. Do you want to quit ¡
To feel in control of your life?
¡ Have better health?
¡ To set a good example for your children?
¡ To protect your family from breathing other people's smoke?
3. Know that it will take effort to quit smoking. This knowledge will help you be more able to deal with the symptoms of
withdrawal that can occur, such as bad moods and really wanting to smoke. Take quitting one day at a time.
4. Half of all adult smokers have quit, so you can too.
That's the good news. There are millions of people alive today who
have learned to face life without a cigarette. For staying healthy, quitting smoking is the best step you can take.
5. Get help if you need it. Many groups offer written materials, programs, and advice to help smokers quit for good. Your
doctor or dentist is also a good source of help and support.

Girlfriend was physically stuck to the seat — her skin had grown around it
NESS CITY, Kan. - Deputies said a woman in western Kansas sat on her boyfriend's toilet for two years, and they're investigating whether she was mistreated.

Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple said a man called his office last month to report that something was wrong with his girlfriend.

Whipple said it appeared the 35-year-old Ness City woman’s skin had grown around the seat. She initially refused emergency medical services but was finally convinced by responders and her boyfriend that she needed to be checked out at a hospital.

“We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital,” Whipple said. “The hospital removed it.”

Whipple said investigators planned to present their report Wednesday to the county attorney, who will determine whether any charges should be filed against the woman's 36-year-old boyfriend.

“She was not glued. She was not tied. She was just physically stuck by her body,” Whipple said. “It is hard to imagine. ... I still have a hard time imagining it myself.”

He told investigators he brought his girlfriend food and water, and asked her every day to come out of the bathroom.

“And her reply would be, ‘Maybe tomorrow,”’ Whipple said. “According to him, she did not want to leave the bathroom.”

The boyfriend called police on Feb. 27 to report that “there was something wrong with his girlfriend,” Whipple said, adding that he never explained why it took him two years to call.
Police found the clothed woman sitting on the toilet, her sweat pants down to her mid-thigh. She was “somewhat disoriented,” and her legs looked like they had atrophied, Whipple said.

“She said that she didn’t need any help, that she was OK and did not want to leave,” he said.
She was taken to a hospital in Wichita, about 150 miles southeast of Ness City. Whipple said she has refused to cooperate with medical providers or law enforcement investigators.

Authorities said they did not know if she was mentally or physically disabled. Police have declined to release the couple’s names, but the house where authorities say the incident happened is listed in public records as the residence of Kory McFarren. No one answered his home phone number.
The case has been the buzz in Ness City, said James Ellis, a neighbor.

“I don’t think anybody can make any sense out of it,” he said.
Ellis said he had known the woman since she was a child but that he had not seen her for at least six years.

He said she had a tough childhood after her mother died at a young age and apparently was usually kept inside the house as she grew up. At one time the woman worked for a long-term care facility, he said, but he did not know what kind of work she did there.

“It really doesn’t surprise me,” Ellis said of the bathroom incident. “What surprises me is somebody wasn’t called in a bit earlier.”

A Saddam Hussein house of horrors museum is set to open in the New Year in Baghdad, it emerged today – the second anniversary of the dictator’s hanging.
The exhibition includes a man-shaped iron cage used to torture unsuccessful athletes, bloodstained noose and battle plans for the extermination of rebellious Kurds.
It is designed to send a clear message that even the most feared dictator cannot hope to evade justice. Brutal: The judge who sentenced Saddam to death hopes he isn't forgotten
and it was created by Judge Arif Abdul Razak al-Shaheem, whose tribunal sentenced Saddam to death. ’We thought that people might forget the works committed by dictators who committed horrible acts against them,’ he said.
‘This is not related to national reconciliation. This museum is about history. History must not be forgotten.’
The museum will showcase torture devices such as a man-shaped metal cage where, in the Iraqi Olympic Centre, Saddam’s son Uday used to lock under-performing athletes for weeks at a time - and set them naked under the burning sun, the metal searing their flesh.
There is a steel bar from an intelligence

Torture device: Under-performing athletes were put in this cage and left in the sun
It will include personal effects found with Saddam when he was discovered hiding on an Iraqi farm in December 2004, including a Quran, a cassette recording of Mozart, a dusty black briefcase.
Chairs will be on display that were sat in by Saddam and his top lieutenants during their High Tribunal trials, including the one that ended in Saddam’s execution for killing 148 men and boys following an assassination attempt in 1982.
The museum will also have a research centre where legal researchers or historians can comb through 26million documents, including the handwritten orders to crush opposition from minority Kurds, which led to the death of tens of thousands.
A floor below Judge Shaheen’s office, the High Tribunal continued on Tuesday proceedings against Ali Hassan al-Majeed, a Saddam confidante known as 'Chemical Ali; for his role in gassing Kurds, and Tareq Aziz, a former deputy prime minister, on charges they systematically crushed political opponents.
Majeed has already been sentenced twice to death, but his execution has been held up by political disputes. Since Saddam was executed, his half brother and several other officials have been sent to the gallows as well.

Grim: A noose used to hang Saddam's opponents
The new case against Majeed, Aziz and over 20 others revolves around the arrest and execution of tens of thousands of members of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Dawa party.
Its timing rankled some politicians outside Maliki’s sphere, who complained it was a bid to influence provincial elections next month that will be a test of rival parties’ influence and will set the tone for parliamentary polls in late 2009.
Violence has dropped sharply, but Iraq risks backsliding into civil war if it can’t bury deep political grievances. Judge Shaheen rejected that any of the tribunal’s dozen or so cases have been politicised, just as he sought to separate the new Saddam museum from the fractious politics of Iraq today, where former enemies have yet to fully reconcile.

Warnings!!!! Soft hearted are warned, do not see this......


This is a new series which today i am posting to let people know what the hell worst could happen like these stories...




The following story has been making the rounds in different papers. Since we've received about forty copies of this by now, it's being posted in order to stop people from sending it to us. We haven't made any attempt to verify the story, but the picture at least appears to be quite genuine.

This picture was taken at the "Breakers Golf Course" in Palm Beach County, FL in June, 1998. As the story goes, the first foursome of the day played together to the 5th hole where one impatient golfer went ahead of the group.

The remaining three, thinking that the impatient golfer finished without them and was waiting at the nineteenth hole, wasn't concerned with his absence. After waiting 2 hours for his return and his car still in the parking lot the threesome notified the club and the search was on. Of course the impatient golfer was not located but his clubs were found on the seventh hole.

Three days later, Ole Mose was spotted on the seventh hole and was an immediate suspect. Ole Mose was an American Croc. that was an infrequent course visitor for over 20 years. Not too much concern was ever given Ole Mose whom had always made a hasty retreat whenever he saw anyone coming.
To make a long story even longer, after the course officials, SPCA, lawyers, citizens groups, Mayor, Palm Beach PD and the Americian Corcodile [sic] Association of So. Fl. it was decided that to put everyone's mind at ease, Ole Mose should be unzipped. The above picture is the result.

Soon would be posting new real life accident incidents....