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... Earlier this year, while examining the new rave look, I tried on some leggings decorated with fluorescent harlequin patterns: I resembled a cross between Timothy Claypole and something off the sex offenders register: When Rentaghosts Go Bad. ... And yet designers persist with male leggings, news of the fact that wearing them makes you look like a cross between Timothy Claypole and something off the sex offenders register having clearly failed to reach their ateliers. On the catwalk, Calvin Klein teamed them with shirts and blazers, the mind-boggling implication seemingly that you should wear them to the office, genital...

Scientists in Spain say that they have found a tooth from a distant human ancestor that is more than one million years old. The tooth, a pre-molar, was discovered on Wednesday at the Atapuerca site in northern Spain's Burgos Province. It represented western Europe's "oldest human fossil remain", a statement from the Atapuerca Foundation said. The foundation said it was awaiting final results before publishing its findings in a scientific journal. Human story Several caves containing evidence of prehistoric human occupation have been found in Atapuerca. In 1994 fossilised remains called Homo antecessor (Pioneer Man) - believed to date back...

... Now Felix Warneken and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have found that 12 out of 18 semi-wild chimpanzees went out of their way to help an unfamiliar human who was struggling to reach a stick. The primates did this even when they were inconvenienced – such as when they first had to climb into a 2.5-metre-high ropeway – and for no reward. Equivalent experiments with human toddlers gave similar results. ... "This is the first evidence of chimpanzees helping somebody they don't know," Warneken says, though he accepts that the chimps may...

LAKE GENEVA, Wis. -- Note to Sen. Sam Brownback: In Packerland, it's not cool to diss Brett Favre. Not amused. The GOP presidential hopeful drew boos and groans Friday at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention when he used a football analogy to talk about the need to focus on families. "This is fundamental blocking and tackling," he said. "This is your line in football. If you don't have a line, how many passes can Peyton Manning complete? Greatest quarterback, maybe, in NFL history." Oops, wrong team to mention in Wisconsin, once described by Gov. Tommy Thompson as the place "where...

A movie about former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the run-up to the 1982 Falklands War is being planned. Pathe and BBC Films are developing a script for a drama-documentary about the tense political period before the conflict between the UK and Argentina. It is being produced by Damian Jones, who was behind the recent film version of Alan Bennett's The History Boys. Last month, another high-profile biopic, of Queen Elizabeth II, won Dame Helen Mirren an Oscar for best actress. 'Crucial period' "The proposed film will be a revealing and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher as she battles...

Sen. John McCain will formally open his 2008 presidential exploratory committee by tomorrow a.m., an adviser said today. The committee already a website and it will stream live the two speeches McCain delivers tomorrow before conservatives in Washington. First, he addresses the Federalist Society. Later, he speaks to GOPAC.

Once the best of friends personally and politically, then divided by the bitter 2000 campaign, Phil Gramm and John McCain are back on the same side for 2008.McCain is emerging as a top GOP presidential contender. Gramm is back both in his good graces and as an increasingly influential adviser on spending, entitlements and trade.The former Texas senator says he's happy with his new life as an international bank executive with the Swiss-based UBS AG Bank and doubts he'll return to public life. But the former Texas A&M economics professor once touted as a possible treasury secretary or Federal Reserve...

<p>Inaccurate sample ballots describing Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Senate candidate Michael S. Steele as Democrats were handed out to voters in at least four polling sites in Prince George's County this morning.The ballots were handed out by people who said they arrived by buses this morning from Pennsylvania and Delaware.</p>

November 6, 2006Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONSLarry J. Sabato and David WassermanU.Va. Center for Politics NOTE: Races we consider "Late Breakers"--those in which we have changed our outlook or prediction since Thursday--are denoted by arrows identifying the direction of momentum. Red arrows () indicate momentum for the Republican candidate, while blue arrows () signify momentum for the Democratic candidate. Dear loyal readers, What a wild ride it's been! As the midterm madness of 2006 draws to a close, the Crystal Ball is reminded just how quickly the facts of our politics can change. Just last year, we and many...

A nationwide Pew Research Center survey finds voting intentions shifting in the direction of Republican congressional candidates in the final days of the 2006 midterm campaign. The new survey finds a growing percentage of likely voters saying they will vote for GOP candidates. However, the Democrats still hold a 48% to 40% lead among registered voters, and a modest lead of 47%-43% among likely voters. The narrowing of the Democratic lead raises questions about whether the party will win a large enough share of the popular vote to recapture control of the House of Representatives. The relationship between a party's...

Summary: D: 45%, R: 53%, U: 2%

As Arizona's J.D. Hayworth Goes, So Goes Republican Control of the House ... ? In an election for U.S. House of Representatives today, in Arizona's 5th Congressional District, prominent incumbent Republican J.D. Hayworth is in trouble, according to a SurveyUSA poll of 643 Likely Voters conducted exclusively for KPNX-TV Phoenix. Just as it was in SurveyUSA's most recent poll, released 10/16/06, the contest today is within the survey's margin of sampling error. But unlike 10/16, when Hayworth still clung to a 3-point lead, today it is Democrat challenger Harry Mitchell who is up by 2 points. Going back to SurveyUSA's...

Here'a a memo from pollsters Paul Harstad and Chris Keating the DSCC will release today: "According to our October 29 to 31 survey of 745 likely Arizona voters, fully 30% of the Arizona electorate has already voted. We expect that perhaps up to two-fifths of the voters in this election will vote early or by absentee ballot. In our October 8 to 31 tracking polls (since early voting started) we have interviewed a total of 594 early voters. Among these early voters, Jim Pederson is leading Jon Kyl by 4 points: 44% for Pederson compared to 40% for Kyl, with...

The Republican National Committee confirms it will not be on the air in the final week of Mike DeWine's campaign, canceling its ad reservations throughout Ohio. Aaron McLear, RNC spokesman, says the party will continue its on-the-ground efforts and staff support for Ohio Republicans, and says he understands DeWine has about $2.8 million available for his own commercials. But no more money for RNC ads as of Tuesday. The party canceled its air time reservations.

Click the pic to see the ad. This ad is running in several districts on the same stem cell research issue from the Michael J. Fox ads. This linked one is about the incumbent in NY-25, Jim Walsh who is facing Democratic challenger Dan Maffei. Jim Walsh wants little girls to die. Just like all Republicans. Vote Democrat on Election Day. Think of the children.

He supports Claire McCaskill because he says Jim Talent doesn't support the expansion of stem cell research and wants it criminalized. He explains why someone from outside Missouri wants to see McCaskill win. For those who aren't all that passionate about opposing stem cell research (and are either for it or don't care), it's probably a powerful ad. Fox is very likeable and he doesn't come off as harsh and mean-spirited, or even as a liberal-- he's a great salesman for whatever you'd want to sell. The campaign ad (pops)

The fifth most viewed vid today (as of now) at YouTube is one posted by CBS itself (fully sanctioned) that serves the purpose of telling people to watch NCIS because it has hot chicks rolling around on the floor ripping at each others' clothing. I have no idea how that has anything to do with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Now, I'm no prude at all (I like watching hot chicks on TV as much as the next heterosexual guy), it just struck me as odd that a corporation so concerned about political correctness would put this out on youtube...

New York Giants star and leading NFL rusher Tiki Barber said he probably will retire after the season, the New York Times reported Wednesday. “He’s seriously leaning toward it,” said Barber's business agent, Mark Lepselter. “I think he feels he’s perfected his craft, in a way, and is ready for something else.” ... Barber plans on a post-NFL career in television, and currently is very busy off the field, including jobs as a radio talk-show host, a children’s book author and co-host of “Fox & Friends,” a general news program on Fox News, the Times said. ... “For the longest...

My friends, I am Mr. Roarke, your host. Welcome to Fantasy Baseball... League ID#: 2896 League Name: Defenders of the Constitution Password: jimrob Season Type: Full Draft Type: Autopick Draft (changed to live draft once we get to 18) Max Teams: 18 Scoring Type: Head-to-Head Player Universe: All baseball Max Moves: 100 Max Trades: No maximum Trade Reject Time: 2 Trade End Date: August 27, 2006 Waiver Time: 1 day Can't Cut List Provider: Yahoo! Sports Trade Review: League Votes Post Draft Players: Follow Waiver Rules Min Innings Pitched: 30 Weekly Deadline: Daily - Tomorrow Start Scoring on: Week 1...

NEW YORK (AP) - Cuba will be allowed to play in the World Baseball Classic, after all. The U.S. Treasury Department issued a license Friday allowing the Cubans to participate in the 16-team tournament, a government and a baseball official said. The pair spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made. Baseball's first application was denied in mid-December by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, but the commissioner's office and the players' association reapplied after Cuba said it would donate any profits it receives to victims of Hurricane Katrina. U.S. laws aimed at...