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On Tuesday, June 30, a young woman in what looked like an off-the-shoulder slinky black jumpsuit and tall patent leather heels drifted into a party at the New Museum celebrating "The Generation: Younger Than Jesus," the triennial exhibit featuring 50 international artists under the age of 33 that ended on Sunday, July 5. Other guests thought she was "nice" and "pretty" and "friendly." Then someone pointed out that the peroxide blonde in question, who was also wearing a fringed silver belt and gold hoop earrings, was Meghan McCain, the feisty blogger and daughter of former Republic presidential candidate John McCain....

* New flu virus not connected to H1N1 outbreak * Hogs transmitted virus to workers SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, July 7 (Reuters) - Two farm workers in Western Canada have become infected with a new flu virus, health officials said on Tuesday, stressing the strain was not related to the H1N1 pandemic. The two workers, both employees at a hog barn operation in the province of Saskatchewan, have fully recovered. A third case is under investigation. The new virus contains genes from a seasonal human H1N1 flu strain and a flu virus common in the swine population called triple reassortant H3N2, said...

St. Charles County Council chairman Joe Brazil says he may introduce a council resolution that asks for the county prosecutor or the state of Missouri to examine whether President Barack Obama is eligible to hold his office. Brazil said Wednesday that he found "absolutely credible'' the assertions of California dentist and lawyer Orly Taitz, who contends that Obama is not a U.S. citizen and therefore ineligible to be president. Brazil was among 40 people who showed up at the Vision Library in St. Charles to listen to Taitz, who spent almost two hours Wednesday outlining her allegations that Obama was...

In the late 1990s, a computer specialist from Israel's Shin Bet internal security service hacked into the mainframe of the Pi Glilot fuel depot north of Tel Aviv. It was meant to be a routine test of safeguards at the strategic site. But it also tipped off the Israelis to the potential such hi-tech infiltrations offered for real sabotage. "Once inside the Pi Glilot system, we suddenly realised that, aside from accessing secret data, we could also set off deliberate explosions, just by programming a re-route of the pipelines," said a veteran of the Shin Bet drill. So began a...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with now deposed President Manuel Zelaya today in Washington D.C. and got some of what he wanted. After the meeting Clinton issued a statement that the United seeks the "restoration of the democratic, constitutional order in Honduras." The quote is somewhat of a swipe at the de facto government currently in place in that it assumes the current rule is not democratic and not constitutional. Still, lacking in the statement is any demand that Honduras immediately accept back Zelaya as President. Also suspiciously missing are any more threats of sanctions or support for a...

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors By Norma Zager America’s poet laureate Robert Frost claimed “good fences make good neighbors.” I know there are numerous interpretations of the phrase, but I currently find myself wondering about the meaning of his statement in light of today’s world. Perhaps beginning by defining a good fence is the best place to start. What embodies a “good fence?” What is most important, strength, materials, positioning, size, height or design? What defines a fence? The United States Canadian border is practically invisible to the sight and minds of most Americans. Few have a need to cross...

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2009 – U.S. forces are helping to equip Afghan forces with the tools they need to improve security and commerce in Afghanistan. Army Spc. Jacob Morris constructs a covering for Combat Outpost Penich's new water pump as construction at the six-month-old base in Afghanistan’s Kunar province nears completion, July 3, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Matthew C. Moeller  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. In recent days, U.S. forces trained Afghan border police on the use of up-armored Humvees, advised farmers to boost crop production and, to improve quality of life for their own, put the...

Since Obama's landmark speech on cybersecurity in May, his administration hasn't revealed much about its long-percolating plans to shore up the government's defenses against hackers and cyberspies. But privacy advocates monitoring the initiative are already raising concerns about what they know and what they don't: the details that have trickled out--including the involvement of the National Security Agency--and the veil of classified information that still covers much of the multibillion-dollar project. "It feels like the Bush administration all over again," says Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum. "Not enough people know the details about these programs to...

---------------snip----------------- In an interview with The Associated Press, Palin defended her decision to step down after a year in which she has been bombarded with a series of ethics complaints that have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to investigate. "You would be amazed at how much time and resource my staff and I, the Department of Law especially, spend on this every day," she said. "It is a waste. We are spending these millions of dollars not on teachers and troopers and roads or fish research and other things that are needed in Alaska." Palin stunned the political world...

0: The number of unrehearsed, unscripted questions asked of President Obama during his “Town Hall” on health care reform. 13: The number of teeth that British veteran Ian Boynton pulled out himself with pliers “because he couldn’t find an NHS (National Health Service) dentist… [he] could not afford to go private for treatment so instead took the drastic action to remove 13 of his teeth that were giving him severe pain.” 14: The percentage of all patients in Britain who wait more than one (1) year to receive treatment after a referral by a general practitioner. Half of all National...

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2009 – The best way to show deployed troops you care, says Cody Anderson, is to send them prepaid international phone cards so they can call home to their friends and loved ones. Today, Anderson, 54, of Mineral Bluff, Ga., is wrapping a four-and-a-half-week personal sojourn, walking back and forth from the U.S. Capitol to the White House to raise awareness about the troops and encourage people to donate phone cards for them. Yesterday, Anderson’s walking shoes were showing signs of his 1,000-mile personal walkathon as he plodded back and forth between the two national icons, passing...

Wisconsin DNR press release EAU CLAIRE, Wis. -- Two recent incidents involving black bears in Wisconsin have captured the public’s attention. State wildlife specialists say both incidents underscore the importance of keeping wildlife wild. Black bears are expanding their range in Wisconsin, leading to more encounters with people. In rural Washburn County, a young bear that had become habituated to people and their residences encountered a woman outside her home and knocked her down. The bear stood over her and pawed at her for a few moments, scratching her face and shoulder and tearing her shirt. Then it moved on....

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2009 – U.S. forces in Iraq demonstrated their ongoing commitment to building Iraqi sovereignty in recent days with a historic first visit by a U.S. Navy ship and joint operations and training efforts. Soldiers with the 4th Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team completed construction on this bridge, June 29, 2009, southeast of Qurnah, Iraq. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The USS Scout, an avenger-class mine countermeasure ship, pulled into port in Umm Qasr on June 30, marking the first visit by a U.S. Navy ship since the port transitioned to Iraqi control. "Today...

Here is an excellent video on Governor Sarah Palin. Buzz it up at Yahoo Buzz: http://buzz.yahoo.com/article/1:14dd5266c70789bdc806364df4586335:b185b00a74e5a872846a173689c0b2a7/Sarah-Palin-Video-Tribute-The-Maneater-Here-She-Comes?usc=1

A Wisconsin man has been ordered to return the roadkill deer head he mounted after eating the animal's remains. Seriously? Let's start counting the problems here: Man eats another person's roadkill deer, mounts it like he hunted it, and now the state wants the head back because it belongs to them? Keep it weird, Wisconsin. The 2nd District Court of Appeals says John Longo, 69, found a dead deer on the road near his home in February 2008. He put the carcass in his truck and ate it at home. He proceeded to mount the deer's head for his home...

BAGHDAD, July 7, 2009 – A two-man team from MTV’s “Real World” program spent a week at Joint Security Station Saydiyah here filming the final portions of a follow-up story on one of the show’s former participants. Army Spc. Ryan Conklin, an infantryman for the North Carolina National Guard’s 252nd Combined Arms Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, stands between Jason Williams, left, and Matt Ruecker from MTV’s “Real World” at Joint Security Station Saydiyah in Baghdad, July 3, 2009. Conklin was a housemate on the show when he was recalled to active duty to deploy. U.S. Army Photo by...

Maccabiah Games Represent Zionism, Israel, Aliya By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Ramat Gan , Israel ---- July 7, 2009 ...... It was a sizzling hot summer's day in Israel as thousands of Jewish athletes arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport from around the globe for the 18th Maccabiah Jewish Olympic Games. But inside the Maccabiah headquarters in Kfar Maccabi in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, all was cool and controlled with an abundance of laughs and smiles. "We are all family," said Maccabi World Union President Jeanne Futeran. "Sure, we have many differences, languages and dozens of challenges with...

As a society, we generally find vultures disgusting, and not simply because they are physically unattractive. The entire life of the vulture depends on its search for death. As one of natures most successful scavengers, they are usually seen hovering on the wind, gliding through the air on their large outstretched wings as they survey the ground for the dead or dying. In human society, we also have our vultures as well, those who profit from death and misery. Very few human beings have been as successful a scavenger as the *ahem* Reverend Al Sharpton. His latest victim? Michael Jackson....

Not having talked to the governor, I take 2012 off the table right now simply because given everything she's going through personally ....

Make no mistake, the economic crisis and Obama's failure to create real jobs with his stimulus package means we're looking at this president's Katrina. The economy is shaping up to be Barack Obama's Katrina. If President George W. Bush was blamed for his slow response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 -- there was plenty of blame to go around, of course, but the disaster was on Bush's watch--then Obama will get the blame for his slow response to the current recession. The difference, of course, is that Katrina afflicted a city and a few states, while the recession afflicts the...