Bak Realm

A stiletto heel is a long, thin heel found on some boots and shoes, usually for women. It is named after the stiletto dagger, the phrase being first recorded in the early 1930s. Stiletto heels may vary in length from 2.54 centimetres (1 inch) up 20.32 cm (8 inches), and are sometimes defined as having a diameter at the ground of less than 1 cm (half an inch). Such heels shorter than 5 cm are called kitten heels.

As time went on, stiletto heels became known more for their erotic nature than for their ability to create height. Stiletto heels are a common fetish item. As a fashion item, their popularity was changing over time. After an initial wave of popularity in the 1950s they reached their most refined shape in the early 1960s, when the toes of the shoes which bore them became as slender and elongated as the stiletto heels themselves. As a result of the overall sharpness of outline, it was customary for women to refer to the whole shoe as a "stiletto", not just the heel. Although they officially faded from the scene after the Beatle era began, their popularity continued at street level, and many women stubbornly refused to give them up even after they could no longer readily find them in shops. A version of the stiletto heel was reintroduced as soon as 1974 by Manolo Blahnik, who dubbed his "new" heel the Needle. Similar heels were stocked at the big Biba store in London, by Russell and Bromley and by smaller boutiques. Old stocks of unworn pointed-toe stilettos, and contemporary efforts to replicate them (ironically, lacking anything like the true stiletto heel because of changes in the way heels were by then being mass-produced) were sold in street fashion markets and became popular with Punks, and with other fashion tribes of the late 1970s until supplies dwindled in the early 1980s. Subsequently, rounder-toe shoes with slightly thicker (sometimes cone-shaped) semi-stiletto heels, often very high in an attempt to appear more slender (the best example of this being the shoes sold in London by Derber), were frequently worn at the office with wide-shouldered power suits. The style survived through much of the 1980s but almost completely disappeared during the 1990s, when professional and college-age women took to wearing shoes with thick, block heels. However, the slender stiletto heel staged a major comeback after 2000, when young women adopted the style for dressing up office wear or adding a feminine touch to casual wear like jeans. Recently, having failed to heed the lessons of history, designers have once again attempted to persuade women away from the pointed-toe, stiletto-heel silhouette by reintroducing the platform sole and round or peep toe coupled with often grotesquely heavy-looking heels. However, there is, as in the 1960s, a vociferous body of street-level opinion against the abandoning of the pointed-toe stiletto (and against the general idea of anyone being allowed to force heavy, awkward and unattractive styles on to the feet of women who prefer their shoes to look slender, streamlined and sexy)[citation needed], so it seems that the stiletto (shoe, not just heel) is one fashion in footwear which is set to remain as iconic and perennial as the Wellington Boot.

Stiletto Heels

It had all come down to abortion.
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), the last Democratic holdout on health care, excused himself for a tense phone call with a Nebraska anti-abortion activist. But what was supposed to be a short break in the negotiations Friday night turned into a 90-minute nail-biter. 
With less than 12 hours until Majority Leader Harry Reid needed to introduce the revised bill, the chief domestic policy priority of the White House and Congress was still wobbling on the brink of collapse.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) milled around Reid’s office, popping Christmas cookies and fudge. Reid slumped in his chair. Two top administration aides raced back to the White House screening room to catch part of the Montana-Villanova football game, but had returned to the Capitol, where they were now waiting with a pair of nervous Democratic leaders.
Soon enough, Nelson walked through the doors.
“We can live with this,” he announced to the group.
And with that, Reid secured the 60th vote for the most sweeping social legislation in decades, all but assuring passage in the Senate this week.
It came at a high cost, and exposed the enduring truth of the Senate, where one senator can hold up legislation and bargain his way to “yes.”
Nelson certainly availed himself of the privilege. 
His objections already had helped kill the government-run insurance option in the bill. He won an agreement that the federal government will forever pick up Nebraska’s share of a proposed Medicaid expansion, a deal worth about $100 million in the first decade, according to a Senate aide. He carved Nebraska’s non-profit insurers out of a proposed industry tax.
And he built new restrictions on federal financing of abortions into the bill, infuriating groups on both sides of the emotional issue and almost certainly touching off a withering fight over the limits when House and Senate Democrats hash out a final compromise. 
Already, a leading abortion opponent in the House, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), is saying he doesn’t think the language Nelson won in the Senate bill goes far enough. The co-chairs of the House abortion-rights caucus, Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette (Colo.) and Louise M. Slaughter (N.Y.), left open the possibility of opposing Nelson's change as well, saying they believe it might be unconstituional — all signs of how abortion might still emerge as an obstacle to a final deal on reforming the U.S. health system.
Nelson – like Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who picked up a $300 million Medicaid fix to ease her into supporting the bill last month– made no excuses Saturday for what Republicans blasted as a sweetheart deal.
“I always put Nebraska first,” he told POLITICO in an interview after his announcement. “But I looked at this through the standpoint of Nebraskans and the country.” 
Asked how much he got, Nelson said, "Most. Enough. I didn't get exactly every penny I was after." 
"There is a difference between holding out for something and holding up," he added. "I was holding out for something to make it better." 
But some Republicans suggested that Nelson held out on abortion to advance the deal for his home state on Medicaid. "You gotta compliment Ben Nelson for playing, 'The Price is Right.' He negotiated a Medicaid agreement for Nebraska that puts the federal government on the hook forever," said Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) 
Nelson started with a list of must-have changes that he provided to Schumer. 

Nelson said some were specific to Nebraska, like the Medicaid fix. Others, he said, would benefit people across the country, like an inflation adjustment to the $2,500 cap on tax-exempt contributions to Flexible Savings Accounts.

Nelson and Reid quietly opened their negotiations Wednesday night. At times on Thursday, Schumer was calling Nelson every 15 minutes, as part of what the Nebraskan called pre-negotiations. By nightfall, with progress being made, Reid asked Nelson to join a round of intensive talks Friday morning at 9:30.

Unlike during the talks in the House, where White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel took the lead, the administration would be represented by two Senate veterans with deep ties to Nelson’s part of the country. Senior adviser Pete Rouse once worked for former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), and deputy chief of staff Jim Messina remains close to his former boss, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) Nelson had personal relationships with both of them.

Schumer also had developed a bond with Nelson in recent years. The senator from Brooklyn traveled to Nebraska last month to hunt with Nelson. It was the first time Schumer shot a gun, and he bagged three pheasants.

“We hunt together,” Nelson said, visibly delighted by the irony. “We may be an odd couple in a lot of respects but we share some of the same qualities in trying to solve things.”

By around noon Friday, Reid and Nelson came to agreement in four areas: the Medicaid carve out for Nebraska, the exemption for Nebraska non-profit insurers, an exemption for Medicare supplemental insurance providers, and indexing the Flexible Savings Accounts.

After a break for lunch, Reid turned to abortion.

Nelson and Chief of Staff Tim Becker, who had flown in from Nebraska, set up shop in one room of Reid’s suite. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and her aides settled into another wing with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the two senators there to represent Democrats who favor abortion rights.

The opposing senators never spoke with each other or sat at the same table. They negotiated through Reid and Schumer.

Through the afternoon and early evening, they appeared deadlocked. Both sides, in consultation with advocacy groups, rejected various offers.

They couldn’t get beyond differences between the so-called Stupak amendment in the House bill, which would require women who receive federal subsidies for insurance to seek out a separate abortion rider, and a proposal by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) requiring policyholders to opt-out of abortion coverage.

“I don’t know if we can do this,” Nelson said he told Reid at one point. “I’m running out of ideas.”

As he spent the day munching on almonds, peanuts and potato chips, Nelson said he eventually had what he described as a breakthrough. He turned over a piece of paper, and drew a line down the center.

“Why don’t we have two policies?” Nelson asked. “One with and one without.”

Nelson proposed that every state insurance exchange offer at least one plan that does not cover abortion, and policyholders could choose a plan with or without abortion coverage, unless states choose to ban it. Also, people who receive federal subsidies would need to write two separate checks as a way to ensure that none of the federal dollars went toward the abortion premium.

Nelson asked for a break. He left Reid’s office and called Julie Schmit-Albin, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life.

He spent 40 minutes walking her through the proposal, but didn't convince her. In fact, she was beside herself. Nebraska Right to Life endorsed Nelson in 2006, and rallied around him as he emerged as the lone Senate Democrat prepared to filibuster unless the bill included Stupak-style language.

Nelson described the compromise to Schmit-Albin as “Stupak-plus,” since it also includes tax credits to encourage adoption and benefits to help unwed mothers cope with their pregnancy. She didn’t buy it.

“If this is so good for pro-life, why would Sen. Boxer and Sen. Schumer agree to this?” Schmit-Albin said she asked Nelson. “I am personally devastated.”

It was a glimpse of the fury that groups on both sides of the abortion battle would soon unleash. But by that point, Nelson appeared to have his mind made up.

Back in Reid's office, however, Schumer thought they had lost him.

"We had been working on this so long," Schumer said in an interview Saturday. "I had been talking to Ben 10 or 12 times a day, and of course the week before we had the meetings of the Group of 10. Nine months, all of this work, all these compromises, down the drain, for one thing -- that would just be awful."

With snow beginning to fall, Nelson returned to Reid's office, and accepted the deal. They shook hands – and hugged, first with Reid, then Schumer. Boxer and Murray signed off on it, too.

Minutes later, President Barack Obama was on the line from Air Force One, flying from Copenhagen to Washington. With his signature issue rescued, the president wanted to offer his congratulations.

Read More Stories from POLITICOPayoffs for states get Reid to 60Stupak aims to sink 'unacceptable' abortion compromiseDemocrats strike health care dealMainer vies for another firstHouse Dems cool on abortion deal

WASHINGTON (AFP) –
The United States issued a new strategy Wednesday for dealing with a rising threat from biological weapons but stopped short of measures to give teeth to an existing international convention.

Instead, the White House said it would step up protections against biological attacks by increasing vigilance and global access to information on disease outbreaks and strengthening norms of scientific conduct.

"We will continue to face new and emerging biological threats that will require the coordinated and concerted efforts of a broad range of domestic and international partners," President Barack Obama said in releasing the strategy.

The White House paper said risks traditionally associated with state-run germ warfare programs have spread in recent years to extremist groups as technological advances have made it easier and cheaper to produce biological agents.

While the United States has made strides over the past eight years in recognizing and responding to acts of bioterrorism, it said less attention has been paid to developing strategies to prevent attacks.

"Although it is entirely feasible to mitigate the impact of even a large-scale biological attack upon a city's population, doing so incurs a significant cost and effort," the paper said.

"We therefore need to place increased priority on actions to further reduce the likelihood that such an attack might occur."

The paper sets out a series of objectives for the new strategy, broadly aimed at protecting against "the misuse of the life sciences to develop or use biological agents that cause harm."

These include efforts to increase access to knowledge and products that can reduce the impact of outbreaks of infectious disease.

It calls for activities to reinforce "a culture of responsibility, awareness and vigilance" in the life sciences, and steps to safeguard scientific knowledge and capabilities that could be vulnerable to misuse.

Other objectives are to obtain timely and accurate information on bio threats; expand US capacity to identify and stop those who might carry out an attack; and to promote an international discussion of the threats and steps needed to counter it.

But, following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Obama refrained from reviving negotiations on a protocol to enforce the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, which though ratified by 163 countries has no verification mechanism.

"We have carefully reviewed previous efforts to develop a verification protocol and have determined that a legally binding protocol would not achieve meaningful verification or greater security," said Ellen Tauscher, a US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, in Geneva.

At BWC talks in 2001, the Bush administration scuttled negotiations for such a protocol, saying that intrusive checks could compromise US security and trade secrets.

TEHRAN (Reuters) –
Iran said on Tuesday it intended to take unspecified legal action over an IAEA rebuke of its nuclear activities and would provide Iranians with enough gasoline in order to trump any further U.N. sanctions.

The IAEA board angered Iran last week when it censured it for covertly building a second uranium enrichment plant near the holy city of Qom, in addition to its main IAEA-monitored one at Natanz, and calling for a halt to construction.

Tehran said on Sunday it would build 10 more uranium enrichment sites in retaliation for the vote by the 35-nation board of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, which had rare Russian and Chinese backing.

"(Foreign Minister Manouchehr) Mottaki will declare the Islamic Republic's appreciation or opposition to the (position of) members of the governing body in separate letters," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said at a news conference reported in official news agency IRNA.

He said Iran would complain to the countries that supported the resolution but that it would not cause a change in Iran's relations with Russia and China, often seen as allies.

"We will confront the resolution legally," he said, according to student agency ISNA, without giving more details.

The United States and its allies fear Iran's nuclear energy program could allow the Islamic Republic to develop nuclear weapons, thought Tehran says it has no such intention.

Iran has resisted a deal with Western powers that would see its low-enriched uranium sent abroad for processing into uranium for making fuel.

Though Russia has said it was "seriously concerned" at the announcement of 10 planned new sites, it said this week it still planned to start up Iran's first nuclear power station in March.

"I don't think Russia will face any problem. That's what's agreed upon," Mehmanparast said, reiterating that "all our nuclear activities will be under IAEA supervision."

Western countries are threatening more U.N. sanctions on Iran which could targets its imports of gasoline. Though one of the world's biggest producers, Iran does not have refining capacity to meet current domestic demand.

Iran says it will expand its own production and plans to cut costly subsidies in a bid to reduce public consumption.

"Our plan is still being pursued, we must be on our own and provide our fuel ourselves," Mehmanparast said.

(Reporting by Andrew Hammond; Editing by Alison Williams)

MCLEAN, Va. — On the eve of the unveiling of the nation’s new Afghanistan policy, former Vice President Dick Cheney slammed President Barack Obama for projecting “weakness” to adversaries and warned that more workaday Afghans will side with the Taliban if they think the United States is heading for the exits.
In a 90-minute interview at his suburban Washington house, Cheney said the president’s “agonizing” about Afghanistan strategy “has consequences for your forces in the field.”
“I begin to get nervous when I see the commander in chief making decisions apparently for what I would describe as small ‘p’ political reasons, where he’s trying to balance off different competing groups in society,” Cheney said.
“Every time he delays, defers, debates, changes his position, it begins to raise questions: Is the commander in chief really behind what they’ve been asked to do?”
Obama administration officials have complained ever since taking office that they face a series of unpalatable — if not impossible — national security decisions in Afghanistan and Pakistan because of the Bush administration’s unwavering insistence on focusing on Iraq.
But Cheney rejected any suggestion that Obama had to decide on a new strategy for Afghanistan because the one employed by the previous administration failed.
Cheney was asked if he thinks the Bush administration bears any responsibility for the disintegration of Afghanistan because of the attention and resources that were diverted to Iraq. “I basically don’t,” he replied without elaborating.
Obama will announce a troop buildup in Afghanistan in a speech Tuesday at West Point, and he’s expected to send at least 30,000 more U.S. troops to the country. The White House also has said that Obama will outline a general time frame for the United States to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan.
But Cheney said the average Afghan citizen “sees talk about exit strategies and how soon we can get out, instead of talk about how we win.
“Those folks ... begin to look for ways to accommodate their enemies,” Cheney said. “They’re worried the United States isn’t going to be there much longer and the bad guys are.”
During the interview, Cheney laced his concerns with a broader critique of Obama’s foreign and national security policy, saying Obama’s nuanced and at times cerebral approach projects “weakness” and that the president is looking “far more radical than I expected.”
“Here’s a guy without much experience, who campaigned against much of what we put in place ... and who now travels around the world apologizing,” Cheney said. “I think our adversaries — especially when that’s preceded by a deep bow ... — see that as a sign of weakness.”
Specifically, Cheney said the Justice Department decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, in New York City is “great” for Al Qaeda.
“One of their top people will be given the opportunity — courtesy of the United States government and the Obama administration — to have a platform from which they can espouse this hateful ideology that they adhere to,” he said. “I think it’s likely to give encouragement — aid and comfort — to the enemy.”
The former vice president is splitting his time among his houses in Virginia, in Wyoming and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, with a place at each for working on his memoir, to be published in the spring of 2011. His eldest daughter, former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Liz Cheney, is collaborating on the writing and overseeing research.
During the campaign, Cheney recalled, he saw Obama as “sort of a mainline, traditional Democrat — liberal, from the liberal wing of the party.” But Cheney said he is increasingly persuaded by the notion that Obama “doesn’t believe in American exceptionalism — the idea that the United States is a special nation, that we are the greatest, freest nation mankind has ever known.”
“When I see the way he operates, I am increasingly convinced that he’s not as committed to or as wedded to that concept as most of the presidents I’ve known, Republican or Democrat,” he said. “I am worried. And I find as I get out around the country, a lot of other people are worried, too.”
Cheney said his worries extend to Obama’s domestic agenda: “He obviously has a very robust agenda of change — health care system, cap and trade, redistribution of wealth. I rarely hear him talk about the private sector.”

Cheney charged that Obama’s plans for Afghanistan are based on political calculations by “a guy who campaigned from one end of the country to the other, saying Afghanistan was the good war ... so that he could come across as somebody who’s not against all wars.”

“Now, things have changed. Iraq’s going significantly better because of the decisions we made in the Bush administration — the surge and so forth,” the former vice president added. “And he’s having to deal, sort of up close and personal, with the Afghanistan situation. And it’s tough — it’s hard. ... Sometimes I have the feeling that they’re just figuring that out.”

Looking ahead to 2012, Cheney said the likely midterm congressional losses for Democrats next year “point in the direction of a very competitive situation in 2012 — a very respectable shot for the Republicans of taking back the presidency.”

“There’s a lot of churning and a lot of ferment out there in the party today, and that’s basically a healthy thing,” he said. “Our adversaries — our Democratic adversaries — like to be able to portray the Republican Party as a bunch of wingnuts — narrow based, always have some agenda that’s not attractive to the public. ... That’s easier for them, and more fun, than dealing with their own problems. And I think their problems are significant.”

Cheney said “it’s far too soon to be handicapping” his party’s presidential nominee. “We’ve got a lot of folks, I’m sure, who will want to pursue it. I haven’t committed and don’t expect to anytime soon,” he said. “I think we’ve got a lot of interesting people in the Republican Party.”

Cheney at first declined to make any comment about Sarah Palin, but finally said: “I like her, personally. ... She’s charming, engaging. She’s got as much right to be out there as anybody else. Will she be a candidate at some point? How would she do as a candidate? Those are all questions that only time will tell.”

And what does he think about the movement to draft him to seek the top job himself?

Cheney says he sees no such scenario. “Why would I want to do that?” he replied. “It’s been a hell of a tour. I’ve loved it. I have no aspirations for further office.”

Read More Stories from POLITICODems 'nervous' about Afghan planCLICK: Salahis: 'Truth will come out'GOP establishment scorns purity testParty crashers called to testifySharp tones kick off Senate debate

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran would neither confirm nor deny Tuesday it is holding five British sailors even though the British government said they were detained by the Iranian navy after their racing yacht was stopped last week in the Persian Gulf.
A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said the case was "being investigated" while the semiofficial Fars news agency quoted a commander of the Revolutionary Guard, whose navy patrols the waters, as saying that if the Britons were detained, it was within the Guard's responsibility to do so.
The detention could heighten tensions between Iran and major world powers, including Britain, that are demanding a halt to Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
The British government said Monday that Iran is holding the five after their yacht, owned by Sail Bahrain, was stopped last Wednesday after straying inadvertently into Iranian waters while en route to Dubai to join the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Britain has been in touch about the case with Iranian counterparts and hoped the matter would be resolved soon. Speaking Tuesday to BBC, Miliband described the issue as a "purely consular matter."
"There's certainly no confrontation or argument," Miliband said. "As far as we are aware, these people are being well treated, which is right and what we would expect from a country like Iran."
Miliband said the British government was expecting a statement from Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs later Tuesday.
"These are five civilians. They are yachtsmen. They were going about their sport," Miliband said. "It seems they may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters. We look forward to the Iranian government dealing with this promptly."
In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said "the issue, whether it happened or not, and its details are under investigation."
"After clarification, the results of the investigation will be announced," the spokesman said.
The Fars agency said the British sailors were detained by the Revolutionary Guard but provided no attribution. Fars is considered close to the Guards.
"If the Britons were detained in the Persian Gulf, it is fully clear which force and from what country detained them," it quoted Guard navy chief, Gen. Ali Reza Tangsiri, as saying.
"Confronting foreign forces and their detention in the Persian Gulf is the task of the Guard," Tangsiri added.
Sail Bahrain's Web site identified the yacht as the "Kingdom of Bahrain" and said it had been due to join the 360-mile (580-kilometer) Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race, which was to begin Nov. 26. The event was to be the boat's first offshore race, the Web site said, adding that the vessel had been fitted with a satellite tracker.
It is not clear what route the boat took from Bahrain, which is just off the coast of Saudi Arabia, and Dubai, on the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Richard Schofield, an expert on international boundaries in the Middle East at King's College in London, said it was difficult to understand how its crew could have ended up in trouble with Iranian authorities.
"It's hard to see why, on a regular journey from Bahrain to Dubai, they would have gone through Iranian territorial waters," he said.
British media identified the five as Oliver Smith, Sam Usher, Luke Porter, Oliver Young, and David Bloomer.
The detention of the British would not be the first of foreign nationals by Tehran.

Iran is holding three young Americans who strayed across the border from northern Iraq in July. The U.S. has appealed for their release, saying they were innocent hikers who accidentally crossed into Iran. Tehran has accused them of spying, a sign that they could be put on trial.

Fifteen British military personnel were detained in the Gulf by Iran under disputed circumstances in March 2007. Iran charged them with trespassing in its waters, and the Iranian government televised apologies by some of the captured crew.

All were eventually freed without an apology from Britain, which steadfastly insisted the crew members were taken in Iraqi waters, where they were authorized to be.

___

Associated Press Writer Jennifer Quinn in London contributed to this report.

A gift or present is the transfer of something, without the need for compensation that is involved in trade. A gift is a voluntary act which does not require anything in return. Even though it involves possibly a social expectation of reciprocity, or a return in the form of prestige or power, a gift is meant to be free.

Who wouldn't love to receive a beautiful gift basket from us? We deliver so much more [The Duet] than ordinary gifts! Stylish and sophisticated, "The Mediterranean" is an upscale fusion of Jordan Almonds, pistachios, wine & cheese biscuits, Dolcetto cookies, Dagoba chocolate, olive oils, salmon, truffles and more, all perfectly presented in a linen and leather magazine bin. [The Mediterranean] It's the perfect gift basket for any occasion.

Gourmet Gift Baskets

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Police Department has a new chief.
In a vote Tuesday, the City Council unanimously confirmed Charlie Beck to replace William Bratton, who quit last month to take a job with a security consultancy firm in New York.
Beck, a 32-year LAPD veteran, has garnered considerable support from officials and community leaders. His confirmation was expected.
Beck says he wants to make the reforms introduced by Bratton a lasting part of the department.
Bratton oversaw dropping crime rates and improved relations with communities long suspicious of the department.

The Nation -- See if you can follow this logic.

A recent article in Newsweek states that Democrats could have won a "very significant number of Republican votes in Congress" for the stimulus -- had there only been a "meaningful tax-cut component." Political journalism is often imaginative, but this verges on delusion. After all, Obama labored to add about $280 billion in tax cuts to the stimulus -- over objections from many Democrats -- and still netted zero Republican votes in the House. Then, the piece asserts that Obama has no "coattails," based on 2009 elections, and reports "early signs of Obama fatigue are emerging." (Again, another observer might note that Democrats have won all 5 special congressional elections this year.) The article also predicts that gubernatorial losses in Virginia and New Jersey "will" make some Democrats "very nervous" about health care reform, which is a "political risk" for the party.

"We appear to be witnessing the beginnings of a significant Republican revival," continues the piece, bringing home its quirky counter-narrative. Lucky for struggling Democrats, however, this Newsweek item closes with some free political advice. "Liberals in Washington would do well to let go of the Republican breakdown narrative," notes the final sentence, "and pull back to the center--or suffer the consequences."

It's the kind of article that might leave you wondering if the author simply works for the G.O.P.

Newsweek's byline states that the writer, Yuval Levin, is "editor of National Affairs and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center." It all sounds quite journalistic and non-partisan. But Levin is also a former aide to President George W. Bush. (He served on the White House domestic policy staff as recently as 2006). If anything, this government experience makes Levin's political analysis more interesting. Why keep it from readers?

As it happens, Levin's first piece for Newsweek, back in March, was prominently billed as Obama analysis from "a Bush veteran." So I put the question to Newsweek, and spokesperson Katherine Barna shares their rationale:

Levin's previous article for Newsweek involved the issue of bioethics, his primary focus while at the White House. He disclosed his prior position in the body of that piece. His most recent article was not related to that topic. We believe our readers are aware of Mr. Levin's background, and are able to discern a reported news article from argument, which Levin's recent piece was. (Emphasis added.)

Really? Does anyone think most readers keep track of White House staff by name? Or that readers memorized Levin's affiliation from March? It's hard to tell if the magazine somehow believes this argument, or just doesn't care that it's not very believable.

And, of course, the whole point of a byline is to provide "background." Levin's article already lists two affiliations for background -- they are just less relevant than his affiliation serving in a senior position in Obama's opposing party, since Levin is purporting to advise "liberals in Washington."

While we're at it, Levin has also been leading the fight to squash Obama's health care plans. He coauthored a June column with another former G.O.P. official, Bill Kristol, declaring, "ObamaCare is wrong. It should and can be defeated." Levin fails to disclose that position during his Newsweek health care coverage, which argues that reform is a "political risk" for Democrats, (his political opponents).

Now yes, people may be so accustomed to paltry disclosure and conflicts of interest that this all draws a collective yawn. Surely there are bigger problems to blog today. And so on. But it is striking that, as public views of the press hit 20-year lows, major media organizations still will not take responsibility for giving their readers basic transparency and information about contributors. And it's especially rich when the proffered explanation is that readers already know.

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WASHINGTON – In a very early test of President Barack Obama's political influence, two states are choosing whether to continue Democratic rule while voters elsewhere elect a handful of congressmen and big-city mayors.
Elected just a year ago, the president has spent a considerable amount of time and energy trying to ensure that Democrats win governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey and pick up a GOP-held congressional seat in upstate New York.
In doing so, Obama raised the stakes of a low-enthusiasm off-year election season — and risked political embarrassment if any lost.
All three could.
Heading into Tuesday's elections, Democrat gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds was trailing Republican Bob McDonnell in polls by double digits in Virginia. In a three-way race in New Jersey, Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine was in a close race with Republican Chris Christie and independent Chris Daggett. And in the race to fill the vacant 23rd Congressional District seat in New York, Democrat Bill Owens was in a tight fight with conservative Doug Hoffman after the GOP's hand-picked candidate bowed out over the weekend.
Elsewhere, California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi is expected to maintain the Democratic Party's hold on the open 10th Congressional District seat near San Francisco, while New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to cruise to a third term. Atlanta, Houston, Boston, Detroit and Pittsburgh also will elect mayors, while voters in Maine and Washington weigh in on same-sex unions and voters in Ohio decide whether to allow casinos.
To be sure, it's easy to overanalyze the results of such a small number of elections in a few places. The results will only offer hints about the national political landscape and clues to the public's attitudes. And the races certainly won't predict what will happen in the 2010 midterm elections.
But, given that Democrats control the White House and Congress, defeats in Virginia — a new swing state in national elections — or New Jersey — a Democratic stronghold — would be setbacks for the White House, even though both states having long histories of electing governors from a political party opposite that of the president.
After all, this is a president who won a year ago in an electoral landslide after building a fundraising and organizational juggernaut that attracted scores of new voters into what Obama loyalists have called a movement. And this is a party that has comfortable majorities in the House and Senate — and that controls governor's mansions in Virginia and New Jersey.
As the Democratic Party chief, Obama had little choice but to work hard to elect Corzine and Deeds; doing otherwise would have been seen by the base as a breach of duty.
So, he campaigned several times for Corzine and raised money for Deeds. Obama also was featured in campaign advertisements for both. He characterized the success of their candidacies as key components for the White House to make good on its political promises and advance its agenda. And he deployed the Democratic National Committee and his own political campaign arm, Organizing for America, to ensure the swarms of new voters he attracted in 2008 turn out even if he's not on the ballot.
Of the two races, a Republican victory in Virginia would be the most telling about potential trouble ahead for Democrats as they compete in swing states next fall.
Long reliably Republican in national races, Virginia is a new swing state. It's home to a slew of northern bellwether counties filled with swing-voting independents who carried Obama to victory last fall, the first Democrat to win the state in a White House race since 1964. Rapidly growing counties like Loudoun and Prince William swung toward Democrats in the 2005 governor's race, previewing an Obama win three years later.
Conversely, New Jersey is a traditional Democratic-leaning state with an incumbent Democratic governor. As such, it's the trickier of the two for Republicans to win — and yet the GOP just might.

Although cholesterol is essential for life, high levels in circulation are associated with atherosclerosis. Cholesterol can be ingested in the diet, recycled within the body through reabsorption of bile in the digestive tract, and produced de novo. For a person of about 150 pounds (68 kg), typical total body cholesterol content is about 35 g, typical daily dietary intake is 200–300 mg in the United States and societies with similar dietary patterns and 1 g per day is synthesized de novo.

The name cholesterol originates from the Greek chole- (bile) and stereos (solid), and the chemical suffix -ol for an alcohol, as François Poulletier de la Salle first identified cholesterol in solid form in gallstones, in 1769. However, it was only in 1815 that chemist Eugène Chevreul named the compound "cholesterine".

http://www.hbextract.com/

NEW YORK – A trade organization wants the government to look into the price war among online booksellers.
The American Booksellers Association sent a letter Thursday to the U.S. Department of Justice, asking for an investigation into the cost-cutting race among Amazon.com, Walmart.com and Target.com. The price war has resulted in hardcovers such as Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" being offered for under $9.
The booksellers association fears that such prices are "devaluing the very concept of the book" and make it impossible for smaller stores to compete.
Some smaller stores, however, have said that they're not concerned about the price competition. They say it affects the most commercial books, which are less vital to independent stores than they are to discount clubs and superstore chains.
"We are committed to providing our customers with low prices, and our online book announcement demonstrates that commitment," said Daphne Davis Moore, a spokeswoman at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. "We always comply with applicable law."

LONDON (AFP) –
The BBC controversially gave a far-right party leader a first appearance Thursday on its flagship political panel show as angry protesters besieged its headquarters.

Nick Griffin, chairman of the British National Party (BNP), appeared on the weekly "Question Time" debate show as around 500 demonstrators joined in angry protests outside Television Centre in west London.

Around 30 demonstrators broke into the BBC's headquarters, while others lit flares outside and clashed with police. Six people were arrested and three police officers were injured, one being taken to hospital with a head injury.

The British Broadcasting Corporation defended its decision to invite Griffin on the show, saying it was duty bound to be impartial.

The BNP had never appeared on the show before but was invited on after Griffin and a colleague were elected to the European Parliament in June, with the party taking nearly 944,000 votes -- a 6.2 percent share.

The BBC's invite sparked passionate debate -- and saw mainstream parties change tack and agree to share a platform with the BNP.

"We remain firmly of the view that it was appropriate to invite Nick Griffin onto the 'Question Time' panel in the context of the BBC meeting its obligation of due impartiality," BBC deputy director general Mark Byford said.

"Members of the audience asked the kind of tough questions that mark 'Question Time' out as the premier television programme where the public put the panellists on the spot." Related blog: Griffin's TV dream could be nightmare for opponents.

Griffin faced hostile questions in a show dominated by debates around BNP policy and panellists challenging the 50-year-old on quotes attributed to him.

His appearance has dominated the British news agenda this week and was on the front page of most national newspapers Friday.

"I've been relentlessly attacked and demonised over the last few days," Griffin said.

"I am not a Nazi. I never have been," he said, adding that "I am the most loathed man in Britain in the eyes of Britain's Nazis" for having stopped the BNP being "frankly an anti-Semitic and racist organisation".

He said: "I do not have a conviction for Holocaust denial", adding: "I was very critical of the way in which the Holocaust is abused to prevent serious discussion over immigration."

He added: "Our country must remain fundamentally a British and Christian country... based on Western democratic values", saying he stood for people who felt "shut out in our own country".

Griffin was on the panel alongside Justice Secretary Jack Straw for the governing Labour Party; Sayeeda Warsi, communities spokeswoman for the main opposition Conservatives; Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne and US playwright Bonnie Greer.

Griffin said beforehand that the furore around his appearance "clearly gives us a whole new level of public recognition". The BNP website said it had been forced to take its normal pages offline due to a surge in hits.

The BNP wants to "stop immigration and put British people first". Its membership is restricted to "indigenous Caucasian" people, though that is set to change after a recent court battle.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Griffin going on the show was "a good opportunity to expose what they are about".

Griffin told Britain's domestic Press Association news agency afterwards that he thought the programme was a "hard-fought match" that would "polarise normal opinion".

He said: "A huge swath of British people will remember some of the things I said and say to themselves they've never heard anyone on 'Question Time' say that before and millions of people will think that man speaks what I feel."

Because water usually had to be heated on a fire for washing, the warm soapy water was precious and would be reused over and over, first to wash the least soiled clothing, then to wash progressively dirtier clothing. The load of soaking wet clothing would be removed, and another load of dirty clothes added to the machine. While the earliest machines were constructed entirely from wood, later machines made of metal permitted a fire to burn below the washtub, to keep the water warm throughout the day's washing.

What is now referred to as an automatic washer was at one time referred to as a washer/extractor, which combines the features of these two devices into a single machine, plus also includes the ability to fill and drain water by itself. It is possible to take this a step further, to also merge the automatic washing machine and clothes dryer into a single device, but this is generally uncommon because the drying process tends to use much more energy than using two separate devices; a combined washer/dryer not only must dry the clothing, but also need to dry out the wash chamber itself.

Smelly Washers

NEW YORK – The TLC network says it's suing Jon Gosselin (GAHS'-lihn) for breaching his contract as star of the reality show "Jon & Kate Plus 8."
The lawsuit, filed Friday in Maryland, alleges that Gosselin hasn't met the obligations of his contract as an exclusive employee, has appeared on other programs for pay and made unauthorized disclosures about the show.
Gosselin has starred for two years in "Jon & Kate Plus 8," which has been consumed in recent months by marital turmoil as Gosselin and his wife, Kate, feuded, then filed for divorce. The couple are the parents of young twins and sextuplets.
Recently, TLC announced the show would be renamed "Kate Plus Eight," with a reduced presence by Jon Gosselin. A TLC spokeswoman, Laurie Goldberg, has said the show's longtime future remains in question.
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TLC is owned by Discovery Communications, LLC.