Free Republic

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...

I have a JPG image of my daughter. When I send it to be printed as a 4 x 6 photo, her head is too big (I want distance from chin to top of head to be 1", for passport purposes). How can I get a smaller head on the finished 4x6 photo? Should the photo service be able to do it? I tried the following idea, but ran into problems: - inserted the photo image into PowerPoint. - put a rectangle frame around the image - grouped the image and the rectangle, copied both and pasted both into Paint....

Genghis Khan, law giver, free trader and diplomat, is back with a new image By Richard Spencer in Ulan Bator (Filed: 11/07/2006) The Mongolian capital has been swamped with images of its former potentate, Genghis Khan, in honour of the anniversary of his unification of the nation in 1206. At the climax of celebrations in Ulan Bator yesterday, soldiers in traditional uniform and bearing yaks' tail standards heralded the unveiling of an enormous statue of the Great Khan in the main Sukhbaatar Square. The monument in which it is set contains earth and stones from the holy and historic places...

Almost four centuries after its mysterious disappearance, Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer reported that he has rediscovered one of Christendom's most intriguing relics: the Veil of Veronica, the cloth with which Jesus wiped His face on the road to Calvary. Fr. Pfeiffer, a professor of Christian Art History in Rome, found the relic in the Abbey of Manoppello, Italy. The German Jesuit invested 13 years of searching through archives to prove that this is the same cloth that disappeared from the Vatican in 1608. Manoppello is a small, ancient town in the Abruzzo region of Italy, about 150 miles from Rome...

I never noticed this until I was testing the macro focus settings on a camera. The engraving actually depicts a seated Lincoln.

WASHINGTON - Has the "Straight Talk Express" veered to the right? Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) says no — he's always been conservative. But the fact that the Arizona Republican is facing pointed questions about his positions on Iraq, immigration, abortion, taxes and other hot-button issues underscores his biggest political problem: He is a front-runner. As he prepares for a likely 2008 presidential race, Democratic and Republican critics are watching McCain's every move for signs he is forsaking his image as an independent-thinking maverick who named his 2000 campaign bus "The Straight Talk Express." Some called it pandering...

The disciplinary arm of the N.C. State Bar dropped charges of felonious misconduct against two former Union County prosecutors Friday because of a 1999 clerical error at the state Supreme Court. The State Bar had charged Kenneth Honeycutt and Scott Brewer with lying, cheating and withholding evidence in a 1996 death penalty case. The ruling Friday marks the second time that Honeycutt and Brewer won on procedural grounds before the bar's Disciplinary Hearing Commission, which sits as judge and jury in disciplinary cases. . . . Prosecutors around the state are concerned that the case is damaging their reputation and...

Identity thieves are always looking for new ways to pry out personal information, from trolling through trash cans to phishing for bank accounts online. But here is one method they may not have tried: using fake fingers made from Play-Doh and gelatin, or taking digits from a cadaver's hand. In a study, researchers at Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y., tested 66 fake fingers to see if they could outwit biometric devices, which identify individuals based on the physiological properties of their fingerprints or other body parts. The fake fingers went undetected more than half the time. "Even if it comes...

Democrats recast gun control image Party eyes inroads in the West By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff | December 17, 2005 WASHINGTON -- The Democratic Party, long identified with gun control, is rethinking its approach to the gun debate, seeking to improve the chances of its candidates in Western states where hunters have been wary of casting votes for a party with a national reputation of being against guns. The Democrats' effort to soften their rhetoric on gun control is similar to the party's recent efforts to recast its message on abortion, maintaining their support of abortion rights but welcoming more...

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia : The image of the United States in tsunami-hit parts of Asia may have enjoyed a boost thanks to its massive aid donations, but one year on, residents say US policy speaks louder than dollars. The US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, along with Washington's pro-Israeli stance, have incensed Muslims across the region, and no amount of aid -- even in tsunami-ravaged Indonesia -- has soothed their anger. "I don't like the leader of the American people. I don't mind the people, I just don't like their leader," says Yan, a 35-year-old Acehnese dried fish trader who...

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051204/hostages_momspleas_051204/20051204?hub=TopStories The Iraqi Islamic party said such kidnappings tarnish the image of Islam and will have a "grave negative effect among those who call for ending ...

COZUMEL, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexicans have set up a shrine at a plant pot on the grounds of a beach resort on the Caribbean island of Cozumel after an image said to depict Jesus appeared on it following Hurricane Wilma a month ago, A receptionist at the Occidental Grand resort noticed the image likened to Jesus' face as shaken guests emerged from a storm shelter after huddling for three days while the hurricane hurled rain and debris. Local media are calling it a miracle and draw a link between the apparition and the fact that none of the 200 guests...

Last update - 08:55 18/11/2005 Rare seal bearing Jesus image found in Tiberias By Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondent A rare seal bearing a picture of Jesus on one side was discovered at an archeological dig in the old city of Tiberias on Thursday. The other side of the seal, which dates from the sixth century, depicts a cross and bears the inscription "Christos." The seal was discovered by two volunteers, employees of the American and British embassies. Prof. Yizhar Hirschfeld of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who is directing the dig, said the seal apparently belonged to a high-ranking church...

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - A dazzling photo taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows colossal pillars of cool gas and dust, giving scientists an intimate look at the star-forming process. The image released Wednesday shows the columns stretching out like fingers similar to an iconic photo taken of the Eagle Nebula by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995. While the Hubble visible-light image was dubbed "Pillars of Creation," NASA describes the Spitzer infrared image as "cosmic mountains of creation." The image reflects a region in space known as W5, in the constellation Cassiopeia 7,000 light years away, which is dominated...