Something to Smile About -- TGIF

so not funny... but true

Iraq death toll 'over one million'

More than one million Iraqis have died as a result of the conflict started by the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to a new survey by a UK polling group.

The report was followed by more violence on Thursday, with five people killed and eight injured in a bomb blast in the Kazimiyah neighbourhood of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.

The survey, conducted by UK-based Opinion Research Business (ORB), found that 20 per cent of people in Iraq had experienced at least one death in their household as a result of the conflict, rather than natural causes. (more)

Dog gone fun!

My Boy AL!

Not sure what prompted this, but Al Gore has quietly released a video with a forceful endorsement of equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians. It pushes the Democratic establishment that much closer to a position he now shares with Eliot Spitzer and some other leading Dems, and is prompting a bit of grumbling in gay political circles that this batch of candidates aren't quite there.

"Gay men and women ought to have the same rights as heterosexual men and women -- to make contracts, to have hospital visiting rights, to join together in marriage, and I don't understand why it is considered by some people to be a threat to heterosexual marriage," he says on the video, which appears on his Current TV network. "Shouldn't we be promoting the kind of faithfulness and loyalty to ones partner regardless of sexual orientation?"

Gore's words come after the leading presidential candidates have tiptoed up to, but not crossed, the line of support for same-sex marriage. All three support equal substantive rights for gay and lesbians couples, and they've sought to woo gay voters in other ways: Elizabeth Edwards has voiced her support for same-sex marriage, for instance, and Barack Obama recently scolded the black church for homophobia, in a speech to an African-American congregation.

Wicked: the untold story of the witches of oz

I saw the Broadway show WICKED last weekend in Chicago. If you have the means, I recommend you seeing this wonderful production. The background of how two best friends fighting for good became known as "good" and as "wicked" (until that little Kansas brat came along). Here's a little taste from the Tony Awards with the original cast members.

Are you scared of this wackjob yet?

Huckabee touts conservative views to woo Carolina voters

The Iowa caucus winner weighed in Thursday on the state's perennial debate over displaying the Confederate flag, expressing sympathy with those who believe the rebel banner should be flown. The flag is also considered by many to be a symbol of slavery.

"You don't like people from outside the state telling you what to do with your flag," he told an audience in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. "In fact, if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell them where to put the pole."

In a state where religious conservatives comprised about a third of GOP primary voters in 2000, affable former Baptist pastor Huckabee has added a new dash of the old-time religion to his populist economic pitch.

He has reiterated his support for constitutional amendments to ban abortion and same-sex marriage -- which he told the Web site Beliefnet.com could open the door to polygamy, pedophilia and bestiality. "Once we change the definition, the door is open to change it again," he said.

Before Michigan's primary earlier this week, Huckabee also said this: "What we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards, rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family."

READ ENTIRE STORY

More on this: Huckabee takes heat for gay marriage comments

Colbert Portrait Hangs at Smithsonian

Jan. 16, 2008, 11:06 PM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Stephen Colbert was denied when he tried to run for president this year in South Carolina. Now the fake TV pundit is getting some love from the city of his birth.

His portrait was hung Wednesday at the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery in Washington for a six-week showing in what the museum considers an "appropriate place" — right between the bathrooms near the "America's Presidents" exhibit. Museum officials stress it's only temporary. (MORE)

Me Likey!

(CNET.com) -- As was heavily predicted before its unveiling, Apple's new laptop, called the MacBook Air, is not quite an ultraportable but is still very small.

Mimicking the 13-inch silhouette of the current MacBook line, it's .76-inch thick at its thickest part. Apple calls it the "world's thinnest notebook."

Though the MacBook Air is not quite the thinnest laptop ever, it is among the thinnest we've seen (the Fujistu LifeBook Q2010 and the Toshiba Portege R500 both measure 0.8 inch thick, but neither tapers to 0.16 inch as the Air does).

The MacBook Air includes the usual iSight camera, an LED backlit display, an ambient light sensor, and a big touchpad that works with multitouch gestures, such as rotating a photo by twisting your fingers on the touchpad.

As for what's inside this slim laptop, we're looking at a 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, custom-made by Intel to fit into the slim chassis, 2GB of RAM, and a choice of either an 80GB standard 1.8-inch hard drive or a 64GB SSD drive (which really should be standard for something so forward-looking).

Moving up to the SSD drive and faster CPU drives the price up from $1,799 to a whopping $3,098. (MORE)

Creating Change

Creating Change is the one and only time each year that more than 2,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates from every corner of the country converge to strategize, socialize and mobilize for LGBT equality.

Cartoon

Hillary Tears Up Under Pressure of Non-Stop Campaign

Seems to have helped her. I think it's ok to show a little emotion.

yeah.. chalk one more up for us curvy chicks!

Are curvier women smarter?

CNN's Judy Fortin looks at research that suggests that curvier women are smarter and have smarter kids too.
(VIEW)

A Year in Iraq

MANY Americans and Iraqis feel that 2007 was the year the war in Iraq turned around: the “surge” strategy has pacified large sections of the country; previously hostile factions like those of the cleric Moktada al-Sadr and the sheiks in Anbar Province have dropped their opposition or even sided with American and government forces; and the number of insurgent attacks has dropped steadily. Still, numbers don’t lie: for those in uniform, 2007 was the deadliest year since the invasion. (READ)

For fellow Project Runway fans

I found a hilarious recapper (thanks Brandi)
---
Project Runway: Bittersweet
via socialitelife.buzznet.com, By J. Harvey

Previously - Steven couldn't hack a wedding dress, so he got booted. Fashion bear Chris was brought back after Jack's face exploded and he had to leave. And we learned that Tim Gunn has made several bad decisions at 3 AM. Get it, Tim!

Oh my sweets, I apologize for my (re)tardniness in recapping this week, as I was in NYC taping that webcast for "The Daily Special" where I looked like an albino bullfrog! It will never happen again! How could I be late on this one, it involved one of my favorite things - CHOCOLATE! Nummers! Let's get to the sweetness and mess! (READ)

Iowa Caucus and My Mom

I am originally from Iowa. My mother, who is 80 years old, has lived in Iowa her whole life. She has never attended a Caucus.. until now.

First let me tell you a little about my mom. She's a "greatest generation" woman, widow, and Catholic with a ton of kids. Probably always voted the same way her husband did. This year, in the freezing snow, she decided to attend her first caucus.

Another thing about my mom, she is not an opinionated woman. This woman has trouble deciding anything including what kind of salad to order. A trait no doubt of women from the WW2 generation who always had their husbands to make all the decisions. Then they find themselves widowed and unable to decide anything without help. Expressing an opinion seems a little scary, "what if my friends don't agree?"

MY mom went to the caucus AND wore a Clinton button!! She wore a little volunteer sign for getting there early, and actually TALKED! When someone asked her "why should I vote for Hillary?", she actually gave a really political intelligent answer!! When she got home, she called her lesbian, activist daughter and said "Guess where I've been?!!" all full of excitement.

It really gives me hope and makes me really proud of my Mommy!!

Yet another reason I like John best...

"In April of last year, Gov. Lynch and the state of New Hampshire passed a bill officially recognizing civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. This courageous act showed us that the idea of America – fairness, justice and equal opportunity – can become a reality when we have the courage to stand up for what is right."

John Edwards about New Hampshire's new civil unions law in a press release

Juno

I saw this movie last weekend. If you like smartass, witty independent movies, I recommend.

Juno is a smart teenager, but she still got pregnant from her dalliance with her geeky classmate Paulie Bleeker. What's a young woman to do? Her spunky friend Leah has an idea: go shopping for parents to adopt the baby. When she comes across a well-to-do suburban couple who is desperate for a child, Juno thinks her problems might all be over. But in reality, even more difficult choices and mixed emotions arise for Juno as she struggles to find her place as a daughter, student, mother, and, ultimately, adult.

Starring:

Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Olivia Thirlby, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney

Keys to the Kingdom

VanityFair

Between them, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have made 13 of the 100 top-grossing movies of all time. Yet they struggled for more than a decade with the upcoming fourth installment of their billion-dollar Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Annie Leibovitz gets exclusive access to the set, while Lucas, Spielberg, and their star, Harrison Ford, tell Jim Windolf about the long standoff over the plot, why critics and fans will be upset, and how they’ve updated Indy. (READ)

Annie Leibovitz snaps Cate Blanchett on the set of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:

this cracks me up...