Checkered Lounge Pants

This parrot is in fact a female model who posed for Johannes Stötter, a fine art  body painter. Using breathable paint, he spent hours painstakingly turning this woman into the image of a parrot, brushstroke by brushstroke. The model's arm forms the parrot's head and beak, and her legs form the wing and tail feathers.  Remember: always take a closer look as things aren't always what they appear to be. Once you see her, the bird disappears.

Bernie Sanders Demonstrates How Democratic Socialism Works!   The whole idea of Democratic Socialism is met with suspicion and often, scorn, when it is mentioned in this USA.. This is because North American media is corporate-owned, and the last thing they want is to show how other systems of government work in a manner superior to our own. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) is labeled a Democratic Socialist, and this is a terrific strategy for a presidential candidate, but you'd never know it if Sanders didn't get a chance to explain. STEPHANOPOULOS: You are asking for a lot of shakeup. Is it really possible for someone who calls himself a  socialist  to be elected president of the United States? SANDERS: Well, so long as  we know what democratic socialism is.  And if we know that in countries, in Scandinavia, like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, they are very democratic countries, obviously. The voter turnout is a lot higher than it is in the United States. I...

Lobby Group Offers 'Behind the Scenes' Access to Gov't Ministers Auctioned prize 'atrocious' idea, says watchdog group. By  Andrew MacLeod     The auctioned prize included a return Helijet flight to Victoria. "Be privy to behind the scenes at the legislature," said the brochure description of the auction item offered to attendees at the Reach for the Stars Black and White Gala on April 25 in Tsawwassen. Bidders at a recent charity auction had the opportunity to buy access to British Columbia cabinet ministers, courtesy of a lobbying company with close connections to the governing BC Liberals. "Meet a minister of your choice," the description said. "Have lunch with one or two ministers." The  fundraiser , emceed by Global BC morning news co-anchor Steve Darling, was for the Reach Child and Youth Development Society, a non-profit group that  provides programs and services to children and their families in Delta, Surrey...

Canadian Families' Debt Jumped By 64 Per Cent In Just Over A Decade Share The amount owed by indebted Canadians grew by 64 per cent to $60,100 in just over a decade, according to a new Statistics Canada study. The  StatsCan report released Wednesday found that between 1999 and 2012, the median debt held by indebted families increased by $23,000. The number of households with debt — including mortgages, car loans, lines of credit, personal loans and student debt — also rose, from 67 per cent in 1999 to 71 per cent in 2012. The median figure is the middle number separating the top half of families with the most debt from the bottom half. However, the government agency also points out that the value of assets held by Canadians families grew over the same period by an even greater 80 per cent, or $179,800, to $405,200. The value includes both financial assets like investments and pensions, and non- financial assets such as real estate. Both phenomena can parti...

Joe Oliver's Budget Numbers Are Thoroughly Cooked That, or he's been drinking his own Kool-Aid. By  Michael Harris , 24 Apr 2015, iPolitics     Still, no one should be surprised. This misbegotten government's   modus operandi  is about much more than information control. It's about soaring, jet-propelled skullduggery in a never-ending political campaign. It's a power fantasy. It's Steve's way. No wonder they're spending $7.5 million in public money to advertise Joe Oliver's budget. Bernie Madoff couldn't have come up with a sneakier sell than this. Armed with his narrative of convenience, Harper programs the electorate with fictions of prosperity, compassion and prudence. In the real world, he acts quite differently. There, he underfunds Coast Guard stations, veterans' offices, First Nations tribal councils, railway inspections, scientific research and Employment Insurance processing. And don't forget health care -- $...

Watchdog Group Wants Audit of Taxpayer-Funded Ads 'It's false advertising,' says Democracy Watch. By  Jeremy J. Nuttall , Today, TheTyee.ca       There are nearly 10,000 billboards across Canada advertising the government's Economic Action Plan, The group's co-founder, Duff Conacher, said the federal government is spending public money on ads that mislead or advertise for initiatives that don't exist. An independent government watchdog group has called on Canada's auditor general to review taxpayer-funded spending on government advertising. Democracy Watch has also launched a letter-writing campaign through its website, demanding the office look at what it describes as "questionable" ad initiatives in the past. Government ads can be seen on TV, radio, billboards and the Internet and are paid for by taxpayers' dollars. There's currently no oversight to make sure money isn't spent on partisan ads, though in the past, ...

Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival ook tweet post HAPPY 40TH! 04.25.15 4:05 PM ET John Oliver Hears Monty Python's Many Secrets At a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the release of 'Monty Python and The Holy Grail,' the surviving cast—moderated by HBO's star Brit—gathered to dish war stories, professional and personal. Monty Python ’s first visit to the USA in 1973 did not go well at all. The groundbreaking British comedic troupe appeared on  The Tonight Show  being guest hosted by Joey Bishop. “We looked out and it was like  The Producers  film where the jaws of the whole audience were open,” Eric Idle recalled at a discussion being moderated by fellow British comedian John Oliver following a Tribeca Film Festival 40 th  anniversary screening of their cult film  Monty Python and the Holy Grail  at the Beacon Theater on New York’s Upper West Side. “We did thirty minutes [of material] in fifteen...