Chocolate bunnies [Funny]

My friend sent me this to my cell...friggin' funny! ~P~

I was so warm [Art]

I was so warm

I was so warm

Man auctions his life | Oddly Enough | Reuters [Funny][Interesting][Weird]

8

[Way odd...~P~]

Man auctions his life | Oddly Enough | Reuters21

Man auctions his life

Thu Mar 20, 2008 9:23am EDT

 

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Man sells life on eBay24
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SYDNEY (Reuters) - A man in Australia is auctioning his life -- his house, his job, his clothes and his friends -- on eBay, after his marriage broke up, saying he wants to start a new life.

"It's time to move. A completely fresh start. I want to see where life takes me," Ian Usher, 44, told Australian television on Tuesday from Perth in Western Australia state.

Usher said he was auctioning his life as "a package" with his house in Perth valued at around A$420,000 (US$385,000).

"Hi there, my name is Ian Usher, and I have had enough of my life! I don't want it any more! You can have it if you like!," reads his Web site www.alife4sale.com27, which has a link to eBay for bidders.

Usher said his life auction, which starts on June 22, included not only his house, a car, a motorbike, a jet ski and a spa, but also an introduction to "great friends" and a job at a rug shop in Perth for a trial two-week period.

"When it's over, I will just walk out the front door, take my wallet, my passport and start a new life," he said.

Usher said his ex-wife had heard of his auction.

"Her last comment was, 'it seems a bit mental to me'," he said.

(Reporting by Michael Perry; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

How to Sew a Button - wikiHow [How-to...]

(I actually needed this and it came to me today to my 'reader',lol ~P~)

How to Sew a Button - wikiHow

How to Sew a Button

Sewing buttons is easy once you get the hang of it. It's a very useful skill to possess, as buttons do fall off. These instructions are for buttons with 4 holes (::) and 2 holes (:). Click on any photo to enlarge it.

[edit] Steps

1. Select a suitable button and thread that matches the button, the garment, and any thread used to sew on other buttons.
   
   
   • If you have a button pop off and you can't take care of it immediately, use a safety pin to hold the garment closed and be sure to keep track of the button. It's best to replace the same button if you have it.
   • Make a place to keep track of the extra buttons that come in baggies with new garments, if they're not sewn into an inner seam somewhere. Label the buttons if you can.
2. 

   Thread the needle.
   Thread the needle. If you like, you can double the thread to make this job quicker. Simply pull it through the needle so that there is an equal length of thread extending from both sides.
3. 

   Tie a knot.
   Tie a knot at the end of the thread. One way to tie a knot is to wrap the thread around your finger as shown, roll the thread between your fingers, and pull it tight. If you doubled the thread, tie the ends together. Leave a long tail of thread, whether you are doubling the thread or using a single thread to sew the button.
4. 

   Position the button.
   Position the button on the fabric. Line the button up with the other buttons on the garment.
   • Check the buttonhole. Close the opposite flap or panel where you want it and make sure that the button lines up with the buttonhole.
   • If the button was on correctly before, you can often go by the little holes in the fabric where the button used to be. You can see the pinholes alongside the button in the photo.
5. 

   Push the needle through.
   Push the threaded needle up through the fabric and through one hole in the button. Pull the thread all the way through on each stitch.
6. 

   Place a pin under the center of the button.
   Place a pin or toothpick across the center of the button and hold it there until the next stitch helps keep it in place. When the pin is withdrawn later, it will allow the slack necessary to create a "shank" so that there will be space between behind the button for the material that will need to go there when the garment is buttoned.
7. 

   Push the needle through the next hole.
   Push the needle down through the next hole and through the fabric. Still holding the pin in place, pull the thread all the way through. Once that is done, the pin will be kept in place by the thread. In this photo, the button was lifted up to show what's going where, but it's best to hold the button in place so it does not move.
   • 

     Button with stitching in an X.
     On a 4-hole button choose the one diagonal to the first hole if you want the threads to cross in an "X" formation.
   • 

     Button with parallel thread pattern.
     If you want two parallel lines of thread showing, choose the next hole that is opposite the first.
8. 

   Bring the needle up through the fabric and button.
   Bring the needle up through the first hole (for a 2-hole button) or a new hole (for a 4-hole button) and pull the thread all the way through the fabric.
9. 

   Repeat the process until the button is secure.
   Repeat the sewing process enough times to make sure the button is securely in place. On 4-hole buttons, make sure that the stitches have been made evenly, so that all four holes are equally used.
10. 

    Come up between the fabric and the button.
    On the last stitch, push the needle through the material, but not through a hole in the button.
11. 

    Go between the button and material.
    Pull the thread out into the area between button and material, remove the pin and pull up the button a little.
12. 

    Wrap the thread around the "shank".
    Wrap the thread six times around the thread between between the button and the material to reinforce the shank you have created.
13. 

    Back down through the material.
    Push the needle back down through the material.
14. 

    Back stitch to tie off the thread.
    Make three or four back stitches to secure the thread.
15. 

    Trim the excess thread.
    Cut off the excess.

[edit] Tips

• Some sewers prefer to secure the thread to the cloth with a few stitches before beginning to sew on the button.
• Double thread your needle, if you want to reduce the number of times you have to thread the holes to secure the button.
• If you are replacing a 4-hole button, look to see how the other buttons are sewn on the garment. Use the same stitching pattern (crossed or parallel) used on the other buttons.
• Make sure you've threaded at least 5 inches (12.7 cm) of thread.
• You can thread two pieces of thread through the needle, doubling each and so using four threads at once, to really speed up the process.
• Another way to knot the thread at the end is to take a tiny stitch on the wrong side, pull it almost down to the fabric, and then put the threaded needle through the loop before pulling it tight. If you do this twice in the same spot, that is a double-knotted thread. Then you can cut off the thread close to the knot.
• Ordinary thread is fine, but there is such a thing as button thread. It is thicker and stronger than regular thread. If the buttons you are sewing need extra strength, such as on a coat, try button thread* It is also a good idea to try to match the colour of the tread used on existing buttons. Some shops specialise in buttons, if they don't have the existing button match, they should have something very near to it. If you are stuck with using a near match concider replacing all the buttons with you near match, that way your garment will look much better.
• For buttons that get heavy use, try wrapping the long thread of the needle tail around the threads that hold the button, at least 4 or 5 times, tightly, then force the needle and thread through the tight bunch of threads that you have created. I usually push the needle parallel to the the button's holes, to avoid resistance, I do recommend a thimble for pushing the needle.(The reason for this is simple: thread wear will cause the button to fall off sooner, unless you wrap the exposed threads with a protective wrap.) Once you have forced the needle through, push it back into the cloth, and tie it off with the long tail that you left at the starting knot. When you wrap the threads, the button will be more secure, and the thread that holds it in place will last so much longer. I have a several buttons that hold my pants, coats and boots, and it is the same repair from 5 years ago! This is good for coats, pants, any heavily used garment.

[edit] Warnings

• Take care not to poke yourself with the needle. If you are sewing heavy fabric, use a thimble to push the needle.

Does Stress Damage The Brain? [Health]

(short answer: Yes...~P~)

Does Stress Damage The Brain?

Does Stress Damage The Brain?

Individuals who experience military combat endure extreme stress, which can lead to the psychiatric condition of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is associated with several abnormalities in brain structure and function, but it has remained unknown whether the abnormalities are caused by the traumatic event, or are pre-existing risk factors that increase the risk of PTSD after a traumatic events occurs. Researchers measured the gray matter density of the brains of combat-exposed Vietnam veterans and their combat-unexposed identical twins using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They found that the gray matter density of the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, an area of the brain involved in emotional functioning, was reduced in veterans with PTSD, but not in their twins. This supports the theory that psychological stress actually damages this brain region. Sources: Science Daily March 19, 2008

Hillary's Nasty Pastorate [Politics][Interesting]

(love this article...can you believe there have been 'law enforcement officers" that have refused to guard abortion clinics?! ~P~)

Hillary's Nasty Pastorate

article | posted March 19, 2008 (web only)

Hillary's Nasty Pastorate

Barbara Ehrenreich

PRINT ARTICLE EMAIL ARTICLE Web Letters (8) TAKE ACTION SUBSCRIBE NOW  SHARE ARTICLE Buzzflash del.icio.us Digg Facebook Newsvine Reddit What is this? This article first appeared on Barbara Ehrenreich's blog. There's a reason Hillary Clinton has remained relatively silent during the flap over intemperate remarks by Barack Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. When it comes to unsavory religious affiliations, she's a lot more vulnerable than Obama. You can find all about it in a widely under-read article in the September 2007 issue of Mother Jones, in which Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet reported that "through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as "The "Fellowship," also known as The Family. But it won't be a secret much longer. Jeff Sharlet's shocking exposé The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power will be published in May. Sean Hannity has called Obama's church a "cult," but that term applies far more aptly to Clinton's "Family," which is organized into "cells"--their term--and operates sex-segregated group homes for young people in northern Virginia. In 2002, Sharlet joined The Family's home for young men, forswearing sex, drugs and alcohol, and participating in endless discussions of Jesus and power. He wasn't undercover; he used his own name and admitted to being a writer. But he wasn't completely out of danger either. When he went outdoors one night to make a cell phone call, he was followed. He still gets calls from Family associates asking him to meet them in diners--alone. The Family's most visible activity is its blandly innocuous National Prayer Breakfast, held every February in Washington. But almost all its real work goes on behind the scenes--knitting together international networks of right-wing leaders, most of them ostensibly Christian. In the 1940s, The Family reached out to former and not-so-former Nazis, and its fascination with that exemplary leader, Adolf Hitler, has continued, along with ties to a whole bestiary of murderous thugs. As Sharlet reported in Harper's in 2003: During the 1960s the Family forged relationships between the U.S. government and some of the most anti-Communist (and dictatorial) elements within Africa's postcolonial leadership. The Brazilian dictator General Costa e Silva, with Family support, was overseeing regular fellowship groups for Latin American leaders, while, in Indonesia, General Suharto (whose tally of several hundred thousand "Communists" killed marks him as one of the century's most murderous dictators) was presiding over a group of fifty Indonesian legislators. During the Reagan Administration the Family helped build friendships between the U.S. government and men such as Salvadoran general Carlos Eugenios Vides Casanova, convicted by a Florida jury of the torture of thousands, and Honduran general Gustavo Alvarez Martinez, himself an evangelical minister, who was linked to both the CIA and death squads before his own demise. At the heart of The Family's American branch is a collection of powerful right-wing politicos, who include, or have included, Sam Brownback, Ed Meese, John Ashcroft, James Inhofe and Rick Santorum. They get to use The Family's spacious estate on the Potomac, The Cedars, which is maintained by young men in Family group homes and where meals are served by The Family's young women's group. And, at The Family's frequent prayer gatherings, they get powerful jolts of spiritual refreshment, tailored to the already powerful. Clinton fell in with The Family in 1993, when she joined a Bible study group composed of wives of conservative leaders like Jack Kemp and James Baker. When she ascended to the Senate, she was promoted to what Sharlet calls the Family's "most elite cell," the weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast, which included, until his downfall, Virginia's notoriously racist Senator George Allen. This has not been a casual connection for Clinton. She has written of Doug Coe, The Family's publicity-averse leader, that he is "a unique presence in Washington: a genuinely loving spiritual mentor and guide to anyone, regardless of party or faith, who wants to deepen his or her relationship with God." Furthermore, The Family takes credit for some of Clinton's rightward legislative tendencies, including her support for a law guaranteeing "religious freedom" in the workplace, such as for pharmacists who refuse to fill birth control prescriptions and police officers who refuse to guard abortion clinics. What drew Clinton into the sinister heart of the international right? Maybe it was just a phase in her tormented search for identity, marked by ever-changing hairstyles and names: Hillary Rodham, Mrs. Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton and now Hillary Clinton. She reached out to many potential spiritual mentors during her White House days, including New Age guru Marianne Williamson and the liberal rabbi Michael Lerner. But it was the Family association that stuck. Sharlet generously attributes Clinton's involvement to the under-appreciated depth of her religiosity, but he himself struggles to define The Family's theological underpinnings. The Family avoids the word Christian but worships Jesus, though not the Jesus who promised the earth to the "meek." They believe that, in mass societies, it's only the elites who matter, the political leaders who can build God's "dominion" on earth. Insofar as The Family has a consistent philosophy, it's all about power--cultivating it, building it and networking it together into ever-stronger units, or "cells." "We work with power where we can," Doug Coe has said, and "build new power where we can't." Obama has given a beautiful speech on race and his affiliation with the Trinity Unity Church of Christ. Now it's up to Clinton to explain--or, better yet, renounce--her long-standing connection with the fascist-leaning Family.

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How Vaccine Companies Use Fear to Increase Vaccinations

My girlfriend's been saying this forever now... ~P~

 

How Vaccine Companies Use Fear to Increase Vaccinations

How Vaccine Companies Use Fear to Increase Vaccinations

The disturbing site linked below encourages vaccinations -- this is unsurprising, since it is sponsored by a vaccine division of Sanofi Pasteur. It is a particularly good example of how vaccine companies prey on the fears of parents. It features a frightened-looking baby next to the words, "I can catch pertussis from you, mom, and it can be serious." The site also features links to the sound of a whopping cough, and says that you should, "Make sure your family and friends get vaccinated" since "anyone who spends time with your baby may pass on pertussis ... [including] childcare providers, household help, and your friends." Sources: DoItForYourBaby.com

BBC NEWS | Americas | Seven charged in 'eBay art scam

This is a bummer
~P~

BBC NEWS | Americas | Seven charged in 'eBay art scam'

Last Updated: Thursday, 20 March 2008, 11:50 GMT E-mail this to a friend Printable version Seven charged in 'eBay art scam' One of the fake Miro artworks (photo: Catalan police) Seven people have been charged in connection with a multi-million dollar international art forgery operation. Four Americans, two Spaniards and an Italian are accused of producing and selling thousands of counterfeit prints around the world. The fakes of artworks by artists such as Picasso, Chagall, Miro and Dali sold for up to $50,000 (£25,000) each. Hundreds of people around the world bought the fake prints, many through the internet auction site eBay. Police in the United States and Spain say the artworks were produced in Europe. Most were copies of original limited-edition prints. To give you a sense of the volume of materials sold, it is alleged... that the defendants issued... 600 counterfeit Chagall prints US attorney Patrick Fitzgerald Those accused include Spaniard Oswaldo Aulesti-Bach and Italians Elio Bonfiglioli and Patrizia Soliani. American James Kennedy is accused of faking the signatures, and Chicago art dealer Michael Zabrin is charged with selling the prints, and with providing fake certificates of authenticity. Two other American art dealers have also been charged. Huge profits "To give you a sense of the volume of materials sold, it is alleged in the indictment that the defendants issued 2,500 counterfeit (Alexander) Calder prints and 600 counterfeit Chagall prints," said US attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who announced the charges in Chicago. A fake Salvador Dali artwork (photo: Catalan police) The quantity was such, he said, that the accused dealers were warned not to try to sell too many at once, as it could have flooded the market. According to prosecutors, the prints were sold in galleries, at art shows, and through eBay, between July 1999 and October 2007. They were bought by people in the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe and Japan, allegedly producing profits of more than $5m for the accused. If convicted, those charged face up to 20 years in prison. E-mail this to a friend Printable version