Checkered Lounge Pants

..better them than me. ROLMAO. The Catlin Arctic Expedition : "Al Jazeera Blogs"

China daily says Google helps US intelligence. BEIJING (Reuters) A Chinese Communist Party newspaper accused Google on Wednesday of colluding with U.S. spies, and said the firm's retreat from China over censorship justified Beijing's efforts to promote homegrown technology. China's latest blast at the world's biggest Internet search company came in the overseas edition of the People's Daily, the chief newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party. Google on Monday shut its mainland Chinese-language portal Google.cn and began rerouting searches to a Hong Kong site, over two months after it said it would not accept the self-censorship demanded by China's government, which is determined to keep a tight grip on domestic users' access to the Internet. China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it regarded Google's departure as the "individual act" of one company, and said the country remained welcoming of foreign investors. But Beijing's res...

I spent last week in Boston. I spent all Wednesday shopping for a leather jacket. Its been almost a year since I lost my jacket when I grounded my Hawg. I went to the Harley shop in Everett, Mass. and checked out the stock. Our dollar was just shy or par with the US$, so I was hungry for a successful day. I wasn't impressed with the styles in the shop but I saw a sweet Road King sitting outside the front door when I walked in. A black 06 for about $5K less than local dealers sticker price here (old habits die hard eh?). Nonetheless, after a few more stops and shops, I never found the jacket to buy. I had planned for a fish and chips lunch as part of my trip, so, we stopped at Kelly's for lunch. I spent the week visiting the grand kids and feasting on Audra's fabulous cooking. Kev took me to his car wash and got the royal treatment for my car. We got some propane for the BBQ and grilled up some steak tips (not something readily available at home) and had a great supper on Th...

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, cp.org, Updated: March 22, 2010 10:25 AM WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has scored the biggest victory of his presidency as Congress approved his signature health care reform bill, bringing near-universal coverage to a wealthy country in which tens of millions of people are uninsured. The measure passed by the House of Representatives Sunday night represents the biggest expansion of the U.S. federal government's social safety net since Medicare and Medicaid were enacted in the 1960s during President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration to provide government-funded health care coverage to the elderly and poor. Although the bill does not provide universal health care, it should expand coverage to about 95 per cent of eligible Americans, compared with 83 per cent today. The stakes could not have been higher for Obama, who has pushed health care as his top priority since taking office in January 2009. The issue was seen as pivotal to other issues on the...

In a major victory for the president, Democratic leaders get the Senate version passed, then engineer passage of a package designed to reconcile that bill and the one OKd by the House last year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of the House Democratic Caucus members marched to the House Chamber for the start of the session where they passed historic healthcare legislation. She holds a gavel used to pass Medicare legislation in 1965, (March 21, 2010) By Noam N. Levey, Janet Hook, Mark Silva and Michael Muskal March 21, 2010 8:36 p.m. Reporting from Los Angeles and Washington Delivering a hard-fought victory in President Obama's yearlong pursuit of a national healthcare overhaul, a divided House narrowly approved legislation Sunday night that could reshape the way Americans deal with wellness and illness. House Democratic leaders proved they could hold the majority caucus together, passing the Senate version of the healthcare legislation, 219-212, after weeks of arm-twisting a...

Afghan govt failing to keep female flesh off TV Ignoring restrictions Afghan woman wearing blue burqa walks past mannequins while shopping at dress-shop in Herat KABUL (Reuters) Eight years after the fall of the Taliban, who banned television and barred women from appearing in public without an all-enveloping burqa, the Afghan government is fighting a losing battle to keep female flesh off TV. In a country that remains deeply conservative and male-dominated, the government has the power to impose fines or shut down broadcasters for showing images of women deemed racy. Yet the guidelines seem to be observed largely in the breach. " There were lots of complaints from the public, especially among families, that some of the TV stations were not observing Islamic cultural traditions, which they called harmful for the young generation " Culture MinisterSayed Makhdoom Raheen, Urban Afghans are now spoiled for choice with a remarkably vibrant array of TV stations. At any given ...

I love happy endings...dont you?? Portage and Main packed with pride over hockey gold By: Staff Writer RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS "Thousands of Winnipeggers at MTS Centre jump for joy when Canada scores the winning goal in the gold medal hockey game against the United States Sunday afternoon. Winnipeg hockey fans and Canadian nationalists gathered at Portage and Main this evening, after the Canadian men’s hockey team defeated the United States 3-2 in the gold-medal game at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Over 4,000 people stopped by MTS Centre for the game, which saw Sidney Crosby win it for Canada in overtime. That goal sparked a huge cheer — not to mention a giant sigh of relief — as the tension in the downtown arena remained high throughout the contest. Most of the fans headed off to Canada’s most famous corner to continue the gold medal celebration. " Ill be in touch.