meowy christmas

this is my cat, Smokey.

"Heroic Secret Service Agent Takes Question Intended For Bush"

taken from theonion.com

WASHINGTON, DC—White House Secret Service Agent Anthony Panucci is being called a hero after intercepting what could have been a critically damaging question aimed directly at President Bush during a press conference in the Rose Garden Tuesday.

According to eyewitnesses, the press conference began with Bush fielding routine questions about March Madness and the dedication of a World War II memorial near his home in Crawford, TX. However, approximately seven minutes into the event, a lone reporter somehow managed to maneuver to the front of the press corps group and fire off a loaded, highly charged question concerning Bush's role in the controversial dismissal of eight federal attorneys last year.

"I just followed my training and did what I was supposed to do—put myself between the president and irreparable harm," said Panucci, who is credited with safely deflecting the attack away from Bush, as well as acting before the reporter had a chance to get off a follow-up question at close range. "And let's not forget my colleagues who rushed the president from the scene."

Although Panucci is not allowed to discuss the specifics of his White House anti-interrogative work, Secret Service director Mark Sullivan said Wednesday that in recent weeks agents had picked up "a lot of chatter" targeting Bush.

"it's christmas time is here"

this is my grandmother.

paparazzi

Alison Jackson creates films, photographic images and sculptures about our fixation with fame and celebrity culture. Here are a few samples.

death count

perhaps the most annoyingly difficult mario bros ever

my uncle has some cows in his backyard

DC unthoughts

from Harper's, January 2008 issue

Estimated number of DC residents who are paid to stand in line for lobbyists hoping to attend congressional hearings: 380
Average amount each line-stander is paid per hour: $20

"What politics has become requires a level of tolerance for triviality and artifice and nonsense that I find I have in short supply" - Al Gore

bacon flowchart

stop motion

Lasse Gjertsen makes me want to be an animator/musician/videographer. And Norwegian.

found in translation

I remember this store. It left room for uncertainty.

Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world myths

Hans Rosling is a Swedish professor and physician who earned his Ph.D. studying diseases in Africa. He has worked as a health adviser to the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, and several other aid agencies. He is also a sword swallower.

In this video, Rosling debunks myths about the so-called "developing world" using extraordinary animation software developed by his Gapminder Foundation.

"Gore Wins Oscar, Nobel Peace Prize For Slide-Show Presentation"

Article taken from theonion.com

STOCKHOLM—2007 was an extraordinary year for former vice president Al Gore, who received the highest honors in both film and humanitarianism for his tireless efforts in creating a visually pleasing, hour-long slide-show presentation using the popular computer program Keynote.

The slide show, which features approximately 80 full-color pictures of landforms and people, as well as a vast array of detailed line and bar graphs, proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that a successful visual presentation must utilize both an application's audio and graphic capabilities. Furthermore, Gore effectively silenced many of his critics by incorporating short videos.

"The Nobel Committee was deeply moved by Mr. Gore's passion for making a clear, concise, easy-to-watch slide show," Professor Geir Lundestad, director of the Nobel Institute, told reporters in late October. "[The slide show] truly displayed how well-placed transitions—be they dissolves, wipes, or splits—can really tie a presentation together."

Added Lundestad: "Also, the slides with multi-image animation were cool."

In February, Gore's montage of satellite images and title slides was awarded an Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was hailed for presenting a "truly global message" with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

"I was stunned," said Phoenix resident Amy Swinton, 23, who saw the slide show twice in theaters. "It turns out that you don't always need flashy fonts or background colors to make a great multimedia presentation. Simple white text on an all black background can be very effective."

Swinton later called the slide show extremely informative, saying that over the course of two hours she was completely convinced of the reality of Keynote's "bounce" slide-transition option.

"I think these awards will help give even more weight to Mr. Gore's ultimate message," New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote. "In our changing world, it is absolutely essential that all of us do our part to stay informed about the various eye-catching possibilities of today's slide-show software."

Homer Simpson takes a photo of himself everyday for 39 years

[F.A.Q.] Big Mac

From questions and answers posted to a public-relations website launched this spring by McDonald's in the United Kingdom, makeupyourownmind.co.uk.

Q. Are your burgers made from cows' eye sockets?
A. No. All McDonald's hamburgers are made from whole cuts of forequarter and flank (similar to the mince you'd buy in the supermarket).

Q. I heard that your burger meat is taken from the vaginas of cows. Can you confirm that this is not true?
A. McDonald's uses only whole cuts of forequarter and flank.

Q. Is there really cow sperm in the burgers?
A. No. All McDonald's hamburgers are made of beef. Nothing else.

Q. If the burgers are 100 percent beef now, what were they before?
A. McDonald's beef burgers have always been 100 percent beef, with nothing added apart from a pinch of salt and pepper after cooking.

Q. Why is it all of your burgers look like they have been sat on?
A. Occasionally buns can look a bit squashed because of the way they have been toasted or the way they're packaged. McDonald's does everything it can to make sure this doesn't happen. If you are not satisfied with the way your burger looks, please return it and ask for another one.

Q. I have read in papers that the staff take a poo in the food, watch people eat it, then go and laugh in their faces. Is this true?
A. This is completely unfounded. McDonald's is unsure which papers have been reporting this and would like to see the source if you still have a copy. Please contact the Customer Services team with any details.

if garfield were a real cat...