Ahmadinejad Rally Photoshopped to Appear Larger

See the circles showing where crowd images have been copied and repeated to add volume to the crowd that did not truly exist.

From the Daily Kos...

by thereisnospoon

Via the twitter feeds at #iranelection and #gr88 comes this interesting tidbit: yesterday's rally for Ahmadinejad's supporters was photoshopped to appear larger than it really was.

(N.B.: the original image comes from a website with a .ir extension: I'm not providing a direct link lest the domain be taken down)

Of course, the only way the regime thought it could get away with such a blatant maneuver was through the ban on media coverage of all rallies and protests--a ban being ignored by regular Iranians on the street, but which is severely hampering media estimations of crowd sizes, as well as decent shots of crowd sizes.

When a thuggish government is so desperate that it has to photoshop pictures of its own rallies to give them more credibility vs. the opposition rallies, it's in some serious trouble.

Here's hoping the real rallies can effectuate real change in Iran.  The regime has moved from simply thuggish to pathetically so.

Update: Several commentators have reminded me that this would not the first time the Iranian regime has doctored photos for propaganda purposes.  Remember the faked missile launch photos as well.  Potemkin missiles, Potemkin rallies.

image and text from the Daily Kos

H.L. Mencken: a great newspaperman, book reviewer, political commentator

by Gibbons Burke

The most prominent newspaperman, book reviewer, and political commentator of his day, Henry Louis Mencken was a libertarian before the word came into usage. His prose is as clear as an azure sky, and his rhetoric as deadly as a rifle shot. Frequent targets of his lance were Franklin Roosevelt and New Deal politics, Comstocks, hygenists, "uplifters", social reformers of any stripe, boobs & quacks, and the insatiable American appetite for nonsense and gaudy sham. But his life was not defined by negativity. He was positively enthusiastic about to the writings of Twain and Conrad, the music of Brahms, Beethoven and Bach, and the victuals offered up by Chesapeake Bay.

Mencken's writing is endearing because of its wit, its crisp style, and the obvious delight he takes in it. The Introduction to The Impossible H.L. Mencken: A Collection of His Best Newspaper Stories, edited by Marion Elizabeth Rodgers which relates Mencken's manner while reporting on the presidential conventions:

Click here to read the rest.

image and text via the H.L.Mencken Page

A curious bird is caught looking at timed web cam...

A webcam in Szentgotthárd, Hungary captured this curious bird looking into the camera. The webcam is set to shoot only one frame in every minute, so what are the chances?

photo via city noise

The strange case of Miriam Sakewitz, the rabbit hoarder!

 

By KATU.com Staff

TIGARD, Ore. - Here we go again.

A woman court-ordered to stay away from animals was found Tuesday in a Tigard extended-stay hotel with rabbits, authorities said.

It was just the latest problem for 47-year-old Miriam Sakewitz, who has served jail time in the past over a sometimes bizarre case of animal abuse and hoarding.

Back in 2006, police found nearly 250 rabbits at her Hillsboro home, 88 of which were dead and in freezers. After the animals were confiscated, she broke into a police facility and took back more than 140 of them.

She was eventually convicted of animal neglect and tampering with physical evidence, among other charges. She received probation and was ordered to refrain from owning any domestic animals. But in 2007, she served three days in jail for violating her probation when she was discovered raising rabbits again.

In 2008, police found a dog and rabbit in her garage when they went to her home to check a report she was suicidal, another violation of her probation. The outcome of that case was not immediately clear.

Click here to read the rest.

photos via KATU

Patient charts often come with cryptic notes from Doctors

                                  Doctors' Comments On Patient Charts:

• "Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year."
• "On the 2nd day the knee was better and on the 3rd day it disappeared completely."
• "The patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1993."
• "Discharge status: Alive but without permission."
• "Healthy appearing decrepit 69 year-old male, mentally alert but forgetful."
• "The patient refused an autopsy."
• "The patient has no past history of suicides."
• "Patient has left his white blood cells at another hospital."
• "Patient's past medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days."
• "Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch."
• "She has had no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night."
• "She is numb from her toes down."
• "While in the ER, she was examined, X-rated and sent home."
• To read more comments click here.
• From "Things People Say" at rinkworks

Here's some people who are a little different but interesting

 

Click here to see more. Photos thanks to theChive.com

Neat Street-Art in Bristol, or how the locals love color!

I think you'll be surprised how innovative the local street art is. Walls in these neighborhoods vibrate with a zest for life that we can all appreciate. Image via http://www.bristol-street-art.co.uk For more wonderful walls click here.

Feeling kinda lazy and tired? So are these guys...

 

Click here to see more exhausted animals in interesting positions. 

images via desicolours

Nevada senator apologizes for affair with former staffer

 Senator Ensign is the latest poster boy for hypocrisy among the Republican Party. I can clearly remember him leading the charge against Bill Clinton for having an affair with Monica Lewinsky. He's also a member of "Promise Keepers" - a Christian group that prides themselves on promoting all aspects of marriage.

But do you think that's going to slow him down in his bid for the presidency in 2012? Not even. He has enough gall for a water buffalo and isn't going to be shaken from his dreams of imperial power by a little old affair! I mean c'mon...does this guy look and sound like presidential material to you?

Apparently pundits in the GOP don't think this nasty little affair is going to have any bearing on his run for the top office in the land. Maybe they're hoping people will forget by then. I won't, and I'll be prepared to bring it up if he does run. Face it Ensign...you're busted!

From the LA Times today...

By Ashley Powers

Reporting from Las Vegas -- Nevada Sen. John Ensign, an emerging Republican leader who has been mentioned as a possible 2012 presidential candidate, apologized Tuesday for an extramarital affair with a former staff member but indicated that he had no plans to resign.

"It's absolutely the worst thing I have ever done in my life," he said at a televised news conference. "If there was ever anything that I could take back in my life, this would be it." Click here for the rest of the story.

GOP committee paid son of Ensign's mistress during affair

By Ashley Powers and Richard Simon

The 19-year-old was paid $5,400 between March 2008 and August 2008 for 'research policy consulting.' The payments ended the same month the Nevada senator says the relationship did. Click here to read the rest of the story.

photo via LA/Times

Did political correctness cause this crime? Boy Scout forced to drink urine for alleged racial slur!

Is this a case of political correctness crossing over into crime? Have we come to that point now? Or was this a case of some bullies just having fun with this kid? It's something to think about.

From The Smoking Gun this morning...

Florida boy attending Boy Scout camp was forced to drink urine after he was accused of using a racial slur, according to police. The boy, 12, was accosted Friday by a quartet of attackers who pushed him to the ground and placed duct tape over his mouth.

According to the below Putnam County Sheriff's Office report, the child told cops that he was "blamed for calling a black boy a nigger," which the boy denied.

The attack, which occurred at Camp Shands in Hawthorne, resulted in the arrest of three minors and Joseph Reid, a 21-year-old volunteer. The victim told investigators that he was lured into the woods, where he was set upon by the quartet. The child's attackers said that "they were going to teach him a lesson and he was either going to drink a bottle of urine, or they were going to beat him up," according to the report (which was prepared by an officer unable to spell "lie" or "hairdo"). One assailant took the tape off the Boy Scout's mouth "and poured urine down his throat." Police recovered two bottles of urine and pieces of duct tape that were apparently used during the attack. Reid and the three minors were charged with kidnapping and aggravated child abuse, both felonies.

image via The Smoking Gun

Tired off the same old food? Try some of these goodies!

 

To see more scrumptious foods click here.

images via foodnetworkhumor.com