Free Republic

Michael Steele held a discussion on Twitter today under the hashtag “#listentome.” There were all but 27 questions and responses in about 20 minutes, and it proved to be simply an ambush from outraged citizens that even a well-decorated Georgetown lawyer couldn’t fend off. The premise was simple. Republicans only control 1/3 of both the House and the Senate while having lost a presidential election under the image of trying to “expand the base” into territories of “moderates.” Ultimately, the choices given to the conservative base was that you either choose a Democrat under a Democrat label or you choose...

PALMVIEW, Texas (CBS/AP) President Barack Obama's approval rating may be hovering in the 50 percent range, but that doesn't mean America's Commander-in-Chief isn’t catching on with new constituents There is now a line of Ecstasy pills made in the image of the 44th president of the United States, according to Texas police who have snatched a batch off the streets. Ecstasy is known for a sense of elation, diminished feelings of fear and anxiety, and ability to induce a sense of intimacy with others. Perhaps a good Election Day strategy to get out the vote? A stash of the brightly...

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Jim Stevens said he's not particularly religious and is clueless about why an image resembling Jesus Christ keeps appearing on his pickup. Stevens, of Jonesborough, said nearly every morning, an image that looks to him like the face of Jesus Christ has appeared in the condensation on the driver's side window of his Isuzu truck.

The Motor City wants change. At least that was the message sent from the polls on Tuesday night’s general municipal election. While some of the election results had been easily predicted, there were some minor surprises. City Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. was expected to come out second if not on top of the city council race. Instead, voters demoted him, placing the former interim mayor fourth behind three fresh faces to the council. But as the polls predicted, Charles Pugh got the most votes, making him the new city council president. Gary Brown, who had been expected to be...

Brown And Sarkozy Rowed With Obama Over Iranian Nuclear Announcement Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy had a behind-the-scenes row with Barack Obama over last week's announcement about a secret uranium enrichment plant in Iran. By Alex Spillius in Washington 02 Oct 2009 Barack Obama argued with Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy over last week's announcement about a secret uranium enrichment plant in Iran The President is believed to have angered the European leaders by insisting on delaying a joint press conference until after he had chaired a meeting of the UN Security Council. Mr Obama is said to have been...

Dr. Adolfo Orozco at the International Marian Congress on Our Lady of Guadalupe in Glendale, Arizona. Phoenix, Ariz., Aug 7, 2009 / 04:10 pm (CNA).- Researcher and physicist Dr. Aldofo Orozco told participants at the International Marian Congress on Our Lady of Guadalupe that there is no scientific explanation for the 478 years of high quality-preservation of the Tilma or for the miracles that have occurred to ensure its preservation.Dr. Orozco began his talk by confirming that the conservation of the Tilma, the cloak of St. Juan Diego on which Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared 478 years ago, “is...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's popularity has boosted America's image abroad even though deep suspicions about the U.S. persist in the Muslim world, according to a poll released Thursday. The survey of two dozen nations conducted this spring by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that positive public attitudes toward the United States have surged in many parts of the world since Obama's election. Positive opinions about the United States have returned to higher levels not seen since before President George W. Bush took office in 2001. The Bush presidency marked a steep decline in U.S. popularity overseas, notably after...

The most viewed story on the Chicago Tribune website as of this writing is a column asking if President Obama wore Mom Jeans to the mound when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Tuesday night's All-Star Game. So much for the president being the coolest guy on Earth. "It’s been a tough week for President Obama's cool factor," Politico reports. Even the foreign press picked up on the meme. "When The Coolest US Prez Had A Flurry Of Flusters," IndianExpress.com writes. Pundits mostly pile on Obama for a series of gaffes at the All-Star Game, but date...

President Obama explored the Great Pyramids of Giza following his speech in Cairo today -- and discovered a startling likeness in one hieroglyphic symbol of a man's head with protruding ears. [Snip] Below, the compare and contrast:

Satellite image shows N. rocket flying northeast while emitting flame By Sam Kim SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- The North Korean rocket that apparently failed to put a satellite in orbit initially flew northeast after blasting off from its launch pad, emitting a long trail of fumes and generating a massive flame, a satellite image showed Tuesday. North Korea on Sunday launched a three-stage rocket that it claimed successfully orbited a communication satellite after being launched from the Musudan-ri base on its east coast. South Korea and the United States dispute the claim, suspecting the launch was a banned test...

The assumption that the Obama administration’s diplomatic initiative to our enemies will enhance America’s image in the world and bring us the security we crave has yet to be proven. What should be of more concern to us, however, is the price our enemies will exact as part of that rapprochement, and whether it is really and truly worth the cost? In January, President Obama addressed the Iranian mullahs in terms suggesting a possible reconciliation between the two countries if the Iranians could “unclench their fist.” The speech was met with chants of “Death to America” and derision by the...

The Grea Amerikan Orgy

NEW YORK – On buttons, posters and Web sites, the image was everywhere during last year's presidential campaign: A pensive Barack Obama looking upward, as if to the future, splashed in a Warholesque red, white and blue and underlined with the caption HOPE.

"Yes we can,'' the Obama campaign proclaimed. "No you can't,'' says the Obama White House of the varied attempts to cash in on the brand Obama built. Or maybe they can, or can't. The lawyers are looking into it, Bloomberg News reports" ### President-elect Barack Obama has created his own brand - represented both by the iconic images of the candidate who campaigned for "change'' and by the "Yes we can'' and "Change We Can Believe in" slogans generated by that campaign. Now the Obama White House, mindful of the "worldwide fascination'' about his election, First Amendment free-speech rights and...

President Barack Obama is walking, talking, and acting like a conservative. There’s daily footage of him as the devoted husband and doting dad. He speaks reverentially about the founders of the nation and the need to serve the country and each other. He wears his faith on his sleeve, even inviting famed Pastor Rick Warren to the inauguration to ask for God’s blessing. But the conservative symbols and imagery stand in stark contrast to the left-of-center agenda emerging from his administration: executive orders that weaken America’s national security and safety, taxpayer funding of abortions, three-quarters of a billion dollars in...

An Instant Overhaul for Tainted Brand America But More Than an Obama Election Win Is Needed for World's Current Captivation With U.S. to Outlast Honeymoon By Laurel Wentz Published: November 10, 2008 NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- In the hours following Barack Obama's resounding victory, Kenya declared a national holiday, and the residents of the Japanese town Obama did the hula in the streets. After years of suffering a reputation as a menacing bully, suddenly America had a new countenance. The world, it seemed, was warmly embracing President-elect Obama -- and, by extension, his fellow Americans. "Overnight it has become fashionable...

I love this poster! This is a great site for internal look at the McCain campaign as told by his daughter!

Farmer Creates Corn Maze Out of Sarah Palin's ImageLast Edited: Wednesday, 24 Sep 2008, 11:39 PM EDT A farm in Ohio has created a corn maze of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. (MyFoxToledo) WHITEHOUSE, Ohio -- From the helicopter you can see it clearly, Republican vice-presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's face in a corn maze (video: MyFoxToledo). Duke Wheeler of Whitehouse, Ohio, who owns the Butterfly House and surrounding farm, said he did it to bring people to the farm this fall. **SNIP** It wasn't an easy process. "We contracted with an artist in Idaho who drew the picture...

(CBS) All eyes were on Sarah Palin Wednesday night when she delivered the biggest address of her political career at the Republican National Convention. How did the GOP vice presidential nominee handle her defining moment? Political imagery consultant and body language expert Joe Navarro, author of "What Every Body Is Saying," raved about Palin's performance to Harry Smith on The Early Show Thursday. Navarro said, "I thought she did terrific. ... She was strong, she was affirmative. She had command of the theater. Totally comfortable. Nice, strong jaw. Good pointing gestures. She looked like a CEO. Terrific appearance." Not only that,...

Something about Barack Obama's manner bothers Margaret Cowan. "There's something egotistical about him," the Sheridan, Colo., retiree said. "It's the way he struts around." Many swing voters here and throughout the country consider the presumptive Democratic nominee distant, pompous, arrogant, even elitist. "It's a big issue that he needs to address," said Eric Davis, a professor emeritus of political science at Middlebury College in Vermont. Obama has Ivy League degrees from Columbia and Harvard universities. He's extraordinarily articulate and exudes self-confidence. Those credentials and qualities combine to strike some people as arrogant. He counters by reminding voters that he was...

See video at link; there is no article.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080720/FEATURES01/807200469&imw=Y Link only per rules.

Presidential contender Senator Obama moved quickly to reassure his Muslim supporters that the apparent discrimination that occurred at two of his speeches in Michigan “was merely cosmetic and should not be taken as a sign that I do not appreciate the value of their support.” The charges of discrimination were leveled by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) after Obama campaign workers barred two Muslim women from sitting behind the podium because they did not want the women's headscarves to be seen in photographs or on television. The women were reportedly told they couldn’t sit behind the podium unless they removed...

Watching McCain on Bill O'Reilly this evening it looks to me like his hamster jowls have receded. They haven't completely disappeared, but the look substantially less than before. Of course it could be good make-up work or good lighting by Fox, but I wonder if he is going through some "makeovers" to make him look more youthful?

Senator Obama, you stand accused of being an out-of-touch, arugula-eating Ivy League elitist who couldn't convert a one-pin spare if the presidency depended on it. I don't have a dog in this fight (despite what Hillary Clinton supporters sometimes think of me) but here are my suggestions for how to reach, and be seen reaching, the "the real America" as you continue to grind toward the Democratic nomination. Obviously, you've got to talk in more meat-and-potatoes terms about how your economic proposals will help working people. But that's only part of what you need to do: TELL US IN CONCRETE...

An e-mail from a reader said that, while Hillary Clinton tells lies, Barack Obama is himself a lie. That is becoming painfully apparent with each new revelation of how drastically his carefully crafted image this election year contrasts with what he has actually been saying and doing for many years. Sen. Obama's election year image is that of a man who can bring the country together, overcoming differences of party or race, as well as solving our international problems by talking with Iran and other countries with which we are at odds, and performing other miscellaneous miracles as needed. There...

**EXCERPT ** WASHINGTON — The morning after Senator Barack Obama shook the Clinton campaign by winning five states in one weekend, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new campaign manager — Maggie Williams, who had taken over in a shake-up the night before — assembled the curious if demoralized staff. ~snip~ Still, interviews with campaign aides, associates and friends suggest that Mrs. Clinton, at least until February, was a detached manager. Juggling the demands of being a candidate, she paid little attention to detail, delegated decisions large and small and deferred to advisers on critical questions. Mrs. Clinton accepted — or seemed...

Barack Obama 'will repair image of US in UK' By Alice Thomson and Rachel Sylvester Last Updated: 2:50am GMT 07/03/2008 America needs to work hard to regain the trust of the British public following the Iraq war and the Bush years, a senior adviser to Barack Obama says today. Samantha Power, a former journalist, advises Barack Obama on foreign policy In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Samantha Power, who is a key member of the Presidential hopeful's foreign policy team, says anti-Americanism is now "vehement" in the United Kingdom. "A restoration of trust will have to occur between the...

Does this photograph really prove that we are not alone in the universe? Images beamed back from Mars would suggest so - although to sceptics, it could just be a strange rock formation. Nasa's Mars Explorer Spirit sent back images from the surface of the Red Planet four years ago, and there was initial disappointment among scientists that they lacked any signs of life. The 'alien' appears to be walking downhill But space and science fiction enthusiasts are convinced there is more than meets the eye, and after years of studying the images, have found what appears to be an...

His detractors may argue that his green principles do not stand up to close examination. But now Prince Charles is set to confound his critics by addressing an energy conference - as a hologram. Determined to keep his environmental damage to a minimum, Charles will save the 15 tons of carbon that would have been generated by flying himself and his staff 7,000 miles to the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. Instead, a three-dimensional image of the Prince will be seen giving a five-minute talk. Charles recorded the message at Highgrove last month. It will be transformed into...

A male American Kestrel, our smallest hawk.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) have successfully performed the world's first high-definition image taking by the lunar explorer "KAGUYA" (SELENE,) which was injected into a lunar orbit at an altitude of about 100 km on October 18, 2007, (Japan Standard Time. Following times and dates are all JST.) The image shooting was carried out by the onboard high definition television (HDTV) of the KAGUYA, and it is the world's first high definition image data acquisition of the Moon from an altitude about 100 kilometers away from the Moon. The image taking was performed twice...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States needs to shift from muscle-flexing to alliance-building when it seeks to wield power in the world if it wants to patch up its battered global image, said a report on Tuesday. "America's reputation, standing and influence are at all-time lows, and possibly sinking further," the report by a 20-member think-tank commissioned by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said, citing half a dozen opinion polls from around the world. "The terrorist attacks on 9/11 caused America to become a frightened and angry nation," it said. "We reacted in ways that alarmed people...

October 21, 2007 Ouch! Hillary Clinton's softer image is clawed over dumped cat Sarah Baxter AS THE “first pet” of the Clinton era, Socks, the White House cat, allowed “chilly” Hillary Clinton to show a caring, maternal side as well as bringing joy to her daughter Chelsea. So where is Socks today? Once the presidency was over, there was no room for Socks any more. After years of loyal service at the White House, the black and white cat was dumped on Betty Currie, Bill Clinton’s personal secretary, who also had an embarrassing clean-up role in the saga of his...

WASHINGTON -- Lee Rogers, chairman of the Anderson County Republican Party, was at the beach last week when his cell phone rang. It was an urgent call from one of Rogers' Upstate GOP activists. "He asked me what I was going to do to find somebody to run against Lindsey Graham (next year)," Rogers said. "I explained to the gentleman that's not something I can put together as a single county chairman. That's got to happen with the people." It could be happening. Graham, a Seneca Republican nearing the end of his first Senate term, has taken plenty of heat...

BEDFORD, N.H. - Republican Mitt Romney on Wednesday jabbed at President Bush, saying the image of the United States has suffered globally based on the perception that it invaded Iraq unilaterally. Addressing civic and business leaders, the former Massachusetts governor chided Bush as his fellow Republican traveled overseas for an economic summit and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been critical of U.S. efforts to install a missile defense shield in Europe. "I do think that we have suffered over the past several years for a number of reasons, and I think you probably know what they...

Within Windows Explorer, we have a folder of jpg images. Right now, we have them displayed as thumbnails. However, something funny is happening. File A thumbnail shows (e.g.) a picture of a tree. However, when we double click on it, and bring up Picture/Fax viewer, we see an image of a person. When we drag that file into PowerPoint, we again see the image of a person. File B thumbnail shows (e.g.) a picture of a person. When we double click on it, or drag it into PowerPoint, we see a different image. What's going on? Seems like the thumbnail...

During both radio shows that I was interviewed on yesterday, the hosts wondered why the media are downplaying both the Muslim and the Albanian aspects of the Ft. Dix news. (And especially downplaying the Muslim-Albanian aspect.) The answer is that the Balkans narrative MUST remain what it is: Serbs=bad. Muslims=victim. The pro-Muslim mainstream media aside, even conservatives jumped onto the anti-Serb bandwagon starting in the 90s — because conservatives are often accused of being anti-Muslim. So the one bone they can toss the Muslims is to take the typical bombastic and outraged stance about what was supposedly done to Muslims...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A dazzlingly detailed image released by NASA scientists on Tuesday shows the chaotic conditions in which stars are born and die -- in this case in a huge nebula in another neighborhood of our Milky Way galaxy. The image, made from a series of 48 shots taken by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope in spring and summer of 2005, depicts star birth in a new level of detail. It provides a view spanning a distance of 50 light years across of the Carina Nebula. A nebula is an immense cloud of hot interstellar gas and dust. This...

The Lord appears to people in many ways -- but along a country road in Plain Dealing, La.? An image has appeared in the ground across the road from Ann Stromile's home. To her, it looks like an image of Jesus. "I can just feel him," said the 75-year-old Stromile, who has been staring in awe at the image across the road from her house on Blankenship Road. Her niece noticed it first, just before Easter. "She said, 'I've got something to show you. This face.' And then I just froze," Blankenship said. In the dirt at the foot of...

Science Daily — The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has delivered an unrivalled snapshot of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672. This remarkable image provides a high definition view of the galaxy’s large bar, its fields of star-forming clouds and dark bands of interstellar dust.

HOUSTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A metal baking sheet from a Houston elementary school has become an object of veneration for hundreds of Catholics who see an image of the Virgin Mary. The pan bearing what many believe is a miraculous religions image is now on display in the yard of Sylvia Calderon, a member of the PTA at Pugh Elementary School, the Houston Chronicle reported. Calderon gave the baking sheet a home after officials at the school said they could not accommodate the crowds who wanted to see it. Guadalupe Rodriguez, a cafeteria worker at the school, discovered the...

The House on Friday overhauled the board supervising its teenage pages, responding to a scandal that left youngsters vulnerable to a lawmaker's sexual come-ons and helped Democrats win control of Congress. The vote was 416-0 to equalize the political membership of the House Page Board, whose Republican chairman never told two board colleagues that he believed -- for a year -- that Rep. Mark Foley was a "ticking time bomb." The expanded board also will include a former page and the parent of a current or former page, to add new pairs of eyes to spot any future examples of...

Arnold Schwarzenegger's self-styled reputation as a “green” governor is under scrutiny again as he selects leaders for water quality agencies statewide. The appointees are virtually invisible to most people, but the panels they serve on are battlegrounds for regulations, penalties and permits that affect California's waterways. Each of the state's nine regional water boards has nine board positions – a total of 81 slots. Nearly a third of the posts are vacant, including three in San Diego County. The local board's most recent chairman, University of San Diego environmental law professor Jack Minan, said he was mystified when Schwarzenegger recently...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans unveiled an advertisement on Friday featuring the image and words of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a warning to voters that "these are the stakes" in the November 7 election. The Republican National Committee ad, first shown on its Web site and scheduled for airing on cable television early next week, also includes images of al Qaeda fighters in training and other al Qaeda leaders. "What is yet to come will be even greater," the ad quotes bin Laden as saying, before concluding with the words: "These are the stakes. Vote November 7." President...

Freezer Babies Case ‘Reveals French Chauvinism’ The leading French daily Le Monde on Tuesday mused on the implications for French society of the so-called “freezer babies” case, where two dead infants were found killed by their French mother in the freezer of her Seoul home. Columnist Laurent Greilsamer laments how French society and its media “cast scornful glances” on experts from Seoul who conducted the first, and as it turned out accurate, DNA test on the babies. The writer lists the many unanswered questions surrounding the freezer babies, but said more interesting than Veronique Courjault, the culprit, was how people...

Danish toymaker Lego Group today issued a pre-emptive apology to Muslims around the world for the appearance a second time since spring - via e-mail and on numerous Web sites - of an authentic-looking Lego box showing the prophet Mohammed in a sexually compromising position, company officials said. "The picture of the box is computer manipulated and in the picture Lego elements are used to depict the Prophet Mohammed in a situation of a sexual nature - with a severely offensive text," Charlotte Simonsen, Lego's head of corporate communications, said in a company statement. Lego operates its headquarters for North...

The first hearing for Camp Pendleton service members charged with killing an Iraqi man could do more than suggest individual guilt or innocence. It also could tarnish the image of the Marine Corps and focus attention on an increasingly unpopular war. Seven Marines and a Navy corpsman from the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment are accused of killing an unarmed civilian on April 26 in Hamdaniya, then trying to cover it up. The defendants have been confined in Camp Pendleton's brig since early May and could face the death penalty if convicted on charges such as kidnapping, assault...

Moscow officials will open a public-relations shop and launch media offensives in foreign countries as they embark on a $27 million, three-year campaign to combat Cold War bias and bolster the city's image abroad. The campaign will also include several million dollars for hosting concerts, conventions, meetings and other events in Moscow; holding pro-Moscow events in international venues; and researching the city's PR problems. Foreign journalists covering Moscow will also be courted by city officials, and ties will be strengthened with Russians living abroad. The effort comes at the same time that federal authorities are looking to boost Russia's reputation....

I have two rectangular .jpg images. I would like to create a composite image that contains both of them. In this new image, the left upper part is from the first .jpg and the right bottom part is from the second. In order to create this image, I believe I need to do a diagonal cropping of the original images. In other words, I want only the top left half of the first image and the bottom right half of the second image. I did a google, but didn't see any tools that allow for this diagonal cropping. Also, the...