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The Most Influential US Political Pundits:

Sat, 03 May 2008 03:21:27 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: The Top Fifty U. S. Political Pundits From The Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/1919961/The-most-influential-US-political-pundits-10-1.html

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Telegraph.co.uk unveils the last installment of its list of the 50 most influential political pundits in America. With just over six months before United States citizens choose their 44th president, the 2008 election is already proving to be the most fascinating and potentially one of the closest contests in living memory.

Left to right: Mark Halperin, David Brooks, Jon Stewart, Tim Russert, Matt Drudge, John Harris & Jim VandeHei, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Chris Matthews, Karl Rove

Tags: telegraph

Painting on Leaves

Fri, 02 May 2008 21:25:26 GMT

clipped by: Sheroug
clipper's remarks: Just beautiful!

Clip Source: www.crookedbrains.net

This is leaf art, a delicate work of art from India. This beautiful art originated in the southern India (Kerala). Its done on dry Peepal (Ficus religiosa) leaves.

So how do we create it?
If you are among those who can hold the brush & create some artistic stuff you are half way through.

Place a few leaves in a bowl full of water for a month or so. But do remember to check it once every few days to see the condition of the leaves. The purpose of soaking the leaves is to remove the outer layer of the leaves. After being in water for long, the leaves get a film over them, which you need to clean by washing it off or use a brush periodically. And do remember to change the water with a fresh one periodically. And one other thing patience is a virtue along with fragile handling here.
Once the outer skin is lost, it leaves behind a beautiful bony structure, usually off-white in color.

Now dry it for a day & you got a leaf to paint on.

China from Above with rare photo of snow-covered Great Wall

Fri, 02 May 2008 20:50:15 GMT

clipped by: alanocu
clipper's remarks: Incredible photography by George Steinmetz for National Geographic http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/05/china/aerials/steinmetz-photography

1. The terraced farms of the Lisu people, one one of China's minority groups, create a patchwork on mountains near Weixi in Yunnan Province.
2. The Great Wall of China
3. In Guangxi, limestone pinnacles line the Li River.
4. Blooming fields of rapeseed plants weave around hills near Luoping in Yunnan Province.
5. sand dunes in the Kumtag Desert located in the Xinjiang region
6. Taklimakan oil field in the Xinjiang region
7. Guandong Province toulou, the traditional dwellings of the Hakka minority group
8. a new suburban development in Shenyang

(thanks, openthink)

Clip Source: viewer.zoho.com

Tags: china, photography

Solar Probe headed to the Sun - 125 miles per second - 2,600 degrees

Fri, 02 May 2008 18:20:49 GMT

clipped by: alanocu
clipper's remarks: The spacecraft fortified with heat-resistant technologies is going closer to the sun than any probe has ever gone.

Clip Source: viewer.zoho.com

Clip Source: www.scienceblog.com

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is sending a spacecraft closer to the sun than any probe has ever gone – and what it finds could revolutionize what we know about our star and the solar wind that influences everything in our solar system.

Solar Probe will be fortified with heat-resistant technologies developed for APL’s MESSENGER spacecraft, which completed its first flyby of Mercury in January and will begin orbiting that planet in 2011. Solar Probe’s solar shield concept was partially influenced by designs of MESSENGER’s sunshade.

Clip Source: viewer.zoho.com

Clip Source: www.scienceblog.com

At closest approach Solar Probe would zip past the sun at 125 miles per second, protected by a carbon-composite heat shield that must withstand up to 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit and survive blasts of radiation and energized dust at levels not experienced by any previous spacecraft.

Clip Source: viewer.zoho.com

Tags: space exploration, sun, probe, messenger, spacecraft, nasa

Stamp Increases From 41 To 42 cents On May 12*

Fri, 02 May 2008 11:32:48 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: *unless you buy the "forever stamp"
News of a postage increase is not good news for snail mail spammers, nor is it for businesses who mail documents and letters as a course of normal business. In our business offline we’ve tried to transition to email for as many correspondences as we can, but ink signatures are still required for many documents.

Clip Source: www.makeyougohmm.com

The price of postage will go up from 41 to 42 cents on May 12, but you can stave off the penny increase for a little longer if you buy Forever Stamps.

Foxbusiness.com:

"The Postal Service developed the Forever Stamp for consumers to ease the transition during price changes," said Postmaster General John Potter. "We encourage Americans to buy Forever Stamps now for 41 cents, because like the name suggests, they are good forever."

When will we see $1 or more to snail mail something? I did a little poking around and learned that the price of a stamp has doubled over the last 27 years (20 cents on November 1, 1981) and quadrupled over the last 33 years (10 cents on September 14, 1975). How much did postage cost some 50 years ago? On August 1, 1958 it cost 4 cents to mail a letter.

Tags: postage stamp increase

They're People, Too, Just Like My Uncle

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:39:05 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong-Il, Chavez, and Obama

Clip Source: scottthong.wordpress.com

Tags: obama, ahmadinejad, kim jong-il, chavez

National Polls: Obama's Lead Vanishes

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:11:40 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Overall, Clinton leads McCain by 3.1% in the RCP General Election Average, while Obama leads McCain by 0.9%.

Clip Source: time-blog.com

Two more new national polls confirming the rather dramatic tightening we've seen recently. First, Pew Research (April 23-27) shows Clinton gaining ground and Obama dropping a bit, turning a ten-point lead in March to just a two-point lead this month:

Obama 47 (-2 vs. last poll March 19-22)
Clinton 45 (+6)

CNN's new national survey (April 28-30) shows a different dynamic producing a similar result: Clinton hasn't gained at all, but Obama has lost a significant chunk of ground.

Obama 46 (-6 vs. last poll March 14-16)
Clinton 45 (nc)

Overall, after reaching a high point of 10.4% on the day of the Pennsylvania primary nine days ago, Obama's lead over Clinton in the RCP National Average has plummeted to just 1.6%.

Here's a look at the RCP Average from April 1 through today:

In the general election match ups, Clinton and Obama both beat McCain by similar margins in both polls:

CNN: Obama 49 - McCain 45
Pew: Obama 50 - McCain 44

CNN: Clinton 49 - McCain 44
Pew: Clinton 49 - McCain 45

Tags: pew research, cnn national survey, rcp national average, clinton, obama, mccain, general election

Change You Can Trust

Fri, 02 May 2008 09:42:20 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: >>>>>>>>>POLITICAL HUMOR<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Clip Source: scottthong.wordpress.com

Tags: trinity united christian church, chicago

Slowing Earth's Momentum (Not Really)

Fri, 02 May 2008 09:04:59 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: thanks Sheroug Permanent link to this comic: http://xkcd.com/162/

Clip Source: www.xkcd.com

Tags: silly humor

DNC Chairman Joe Andrew Is Urging Clinton Supporters To Switch

Fri, 02 May 2008 08:32:10 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: May 1, 20

Dear Friends:

I have been inspired.

Today I am announcing my support for Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States of America. I am changing my support from Senator Clinton to Senator Obama, and calling for my fellow Democrats across my home State of Indiana, and my fellow super delegates across the nation, to heal the rift in our Party and unite behind Barack Obama.

The hardest decisions in life are not between good and bad or right and wrong, but between two goods or two rights. That is the decision Democrats face today. We have an embarrassment of riches, but as much as we may love our candidates and revel in the political process that has brought Presidential politics to places that have not seen it in a generation, we cannot let our family affair hurt America by helping John McCain.

Clip Source: briefingroom.thehill.com

In a letter to other superdelegates, former DNC Chairman Joe Andrew is urging Clinton supporters to switch to Obama - just as he did earlier today.

To end the infighting between Clinton and Obama, Andrew suggested superdelegates all “come together right now” behind Obama, who Andrew called “inspiring.”

Recognizing that such a switch may spurn Clinton supporters and divide Democrats, Andrew wrote: “It is therefore incumbent on all of us who once supported Senator Clinton to welcome the thousands who should now switch their support to Senator Obama.”

Tags: joe andrew, superdelegates, letter, obama, clinton

10 Simple truths about oil

Fri, 02 May 2008 08:09:16 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: Fact #4. The OPEC nations, those in the Middle East and including Venezuela, control 77% of the world’s known oil reserves. Like Russia and Mexico, where the oil industry is controlled by the state, it is generally poorly managed. Several Big Oil companies that were induced to undertake exploration and development in Russia and Venezuela actually had their assets nationalized or stolen at prices well below their investment and value.

Fact #5. Energy is the master resource. All nations with any hope of growing their economies require it, mostly in the form of electricity, but also for oil’s role in transportation. The failure to have a national long-range energy policy that is based in reality can severely impact energy prices.

Clip Source: www.intellectualconservative.com

Fact #1. The combined ownership of oil reserves by the independent, investor-owned oil companies such as ExxonMobil, Conoco-Phillips, BP, Chevron and others is barely 4% of the total known oil reserves in the world. By itself, ExxonMobil’s share is 1.08%.

Fact #2. Oil is a global commodity sold on mercantile exchanges for whatever price it can command. Speculation in oil prices is the primary reason they have been driven to utterly insane costs per barrel. It has nothing to do with actual supply and demand.

Fact #3. No nation on Earth is or can be “energy independent.” The geopolitics of oil is complex, but as nations such as China and India have seen their economies grow, their need for oil grows with it and thus they compete with long established industrialized nations for existing oil supplies. This competition has an impact on prices.