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How To Wear A Romper

2010-09-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

A popular trend lately is the romper. Rompers may bring thoughts of childhood to mind, but they're actually very versatile today as they're offered in different styles. However, they are a bit tricky to wear, for certain body types. They must be styled appropriately.

Day Look

When wearing a romper in a casual, daytime atmosphere, stick to a casual fabric like cotton and accessorize lightly. Pick some comfortable, embellished sandals and feel free to add a summer hat, like a fedora.

On the right, I wore a beachy romper from Forever 21, $10, with an oversized blazer and white gladiator sandals for a day of shopping. The romper was a welcome change from all the dresses I usually wear! I didn't have to worry about showing too much skin because of the shorts on the romper.

Transitioning a Day Look to Night

If you want to wear a romper all day and just change up a few accessories to assimilate into an outfit for night, look towards this example.

Depending on how casual of a work environment you are in, this woman's outfit on the right could work perfectly in the office during the day and with the removal of the blazer, would also work in the bars/clubs at night. Simply wear modest flats and/or tights with your romper and blazer to work, then switch to some strappy sandals and ditch the jacket.

Night Look

Wearing a romper for a sexy nighttime look just takes the right accessories (and style of romper). For instance, a beachy-looking romper might be able to be dressed up for a night out at the beach, but it probably wouldn't be appropriate out on the town.

Pick a style that has sleek details, or is made out of shiny, nice looking fabric, like the runway styles on the right.

Pick accessories accordingly. Think simplicity with jewelry and make a statement with your shoes instead: the taller the better, in this case. If you wear platforms with your romper, your legs will look long and glamorous.

Feel free to add tights and a light jacket or sweater if it's chilly outside.

Rompers For Curvy Girls

If you have curvy hips or a curvy booty and you've heard that rompers can look unattractive on you, DON'T LISTEN! You're perfectly able to get in on the trend and look good doing it!

Try to pick a romper that hits you at your smallest part, which is probably your waist. If the romper doesn't already cinch your waist, belt it. Make sure that the romper you choose hits you at the right spot for this look, though. If the waist of the romper actually falls near your hips, a belt would look awkward on that piece. Try to pick a romper that has a waist that actually falls on your waist. This is why trying on your clothes before you buy them is vital!

Another option is wearing a waist-cinching sweater or blazer on top. Make sure that this cover-up fits you correctly.

This romper on the right would look great on a curvy frame. It almost looks like a dress, it's a fun color, and it accentuates a smaller waist. Her long, dangling necklace also gives her figure a long, lean line which is great for curvy figures.

Rompers for Petite Girls

If you're petite, chances are rompers will look great on you. You just need to wear them the correct way. If possible, wear the romper with heels. The shorts combined with a bit of height will elongate your leg.

Look at this example below. The woman on the left looks great- her bright tights and heels draw your eyes to her legs, which are the exact body part that rompers accentuate. The woman on the right, however cute as she is trying to appear, looks a bit childish and stumpy. The knee-high socks and flat tennis shoes cut her legs at an awkward spot and her overall accessorizing doesn't bring the childish staple to an adult look, at all.

Demi Lovato Long Hairstyles Styling Tips

2010-08-31T07:42:00.000-07:00

How to have hair like demi lovato

Styling your hair hairstyling tips:

Long Hair that is soft and sexy hair for long locks, the color is the first step of using a warmer chestnut brown with the golden highlights, if you have dark brown warm to chestnut brown, for streaks to accenturate the strands, next you will want shine polishing, which makes the hair when it is cut to have a layered look that is soft and tossled, remove hair away from your face when blowdrying and take large sections twisting into each piece that is wrapped around the brush while adding low heat, divide hair mist before using a curing iron do not roll the ends of the hair because you want a more natural look. Next break the curls with your fingers for a more fuller volume.

Many do not realize the importance of a beautiful haircolor when picking a lengthened hairstyles for oval faces, lightening paste is how you can achieve warm streaks of color, and to get the best shine to protect highlights is to add gloss. Other hair tricks is to trim hair with a cut that is done on an angle.

Styling hair starts with the blowdryer, with the nozzle angled downward to avoid frizz for thick and wavy hair, if you do have fine hair you will want to use a volumizing mousse, then wrap hair around brush when creating a curl on the ends, with a curling iron, it is not necessary to have perfect sections, but it is important spray hair with holding spray, so you can achive the lengthy silky hairstyle.

creating celebrity styles for long hair

When styling long hairstyles for prom you will want to use the same types of styling aids such as a curling iron, brush and hair accessories for updos, long straight hairstyles are easier to maintain because with the right flat iron you can smooth the hair in a downward motion leaving the ends straight from a layered cut or blunt cut, Long modern wedding hairstyles have given woman a choice and a variety of looks that can be worn up or down with curls or straight and with the right haircolor it can make a wedding special.

Celebrity hair such as cheetah girls long hairstyles are achieved by deciding which haircolor you want from blonde, chestnut brown or dark brown then you can use a side part with angled bangs with tossled tresses of femine curls or straight edge hair with high shine, flipped ends add a flirty style to any occasion.

Top celebrity hairstyles from selena gomez, demi lovato, victoria justice, miley cyrus, ashley tisdale and vanessa hudgens are setting the trends for long straight layered and curly hair.

Hairstyle photos

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it very heard to see any thing in the world.

Long black hairstyles do not reflect light as much as blonde or light auburn so for darker hair long styles that look the best are ones that show texture, waves or curls in a style that cascades down the shoulders. lengthy haircuts for square faces are can be worn with volume on the crown and hairspray to keep hair from getting limp or flat.

When styling long hairstyles for prom you will want to use the same types of styling aids such as a curling iron, brush and hair accessories for updos, long straight hairstyles are easier to maintain because with the right flat iron you can smooth the hair in a downward motion leaving the ends straight from a layered cut or blunt cut, Long modern wedding hairstyles have given woman a choice and a variety of looks that can be worn up or down with curls or straight and with the right haircolor it can make a wedding special.

Styling hair starts with the blowdryer, with the nozzle angled downward to avoid frizz for thick and wavy hair, if you do have fine hair you will want to use a volumizing mousse, then wrap hair around brush when creating a curl on the ends, with a curling iron, it is not necessary to have perfect sections, but it is important spray hair with holding spray, so you can achive the lengthy silky hairstyle.

Long Hair that is soft and sexy hair for long locks, the color is the first step of using a warmer chestnut brown with the golden highlights, if you have dark brown warm to chestnut brown, for streaks to accenturate the strands, next you will want shine polishing, which makes the hair when it is cut to have a layered look that is soft and tossled, remove hair away from your face when blowdrying and take large sections twisting into each piece that is wrapped around the brush while adding low heat, divide hair mist before using a curing iron do not roll the ends of the hair because you want a more natural look. Next break the curls with your fingers for a more fuller

Best Gas Mileage Cars 2009

2010-08-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

Best Gas Mileage Cars 2009

The price of gas has gone down but that doesn’t mean that people are letting go of their concerns about getting good gas mileage from their vehicles. Withy the economy in a precarious state and worries about environmental concerns still high, people continue to be interested in finding the best gas mileage cars that they can get even though the price per gallon of gas isn’t in quite the fearsome place it was in during much of 2008.

If you’re looking into purchasing a new car in 2009 and you’ve got an eye towards getting a car with some good gas mileage then here are some of the top picks that you’ll want to think about purchasing (note that the gas mileage listed below is an average and that there’s sometimes a big difference between mpg in the city and those on the highway):

Toyota Prius

People who want a green car tend to still think of the Toyota Prius first and foremost. There’s a reason for that. This hybrid vehicle gets the best gas mileage of almost all cars on the road today (nearly fifty miles to the gallon) and it’s a reliable car that’s roomy enough for families. It should be noted, however, that the base price of the Toyota Prius has gone up over the years. It’s still a great car if you’re looking just at fuel efficiency but if you also want to take other things into consideration when buying a car this year then you may want to at least consider some of the other great gas mileage cars on this list.

Toyota Camry Hybrid

The Toyota Camry has long been a popular car for average drivers who are seeking a reliable vehicle that gets good gas mileage and is affordable enough to drive off of the lot on a basic budget. Even the hybrid version of the Toyota Camry is affordable for most people who are seeking to purchase a new car in 2009. And since it is a hybrid it does get terrific gas mileage; it gets over 35 miles per gallon steadily and can sometimes get over 40 miles per gallon.

Honda Civic Hybrid

There are some people who prefer Hondas to Toyotas so someone who may otherwise purchase the Camry hybrid may look instead at the Civic hybrid. By most accounts this car gets slightly better gas mileage than the Camry but the difference is negligible. Both are good cars and they both get great gas mileage so it’s really a matter of personal preference in terms of the qualities of the car that aren’t related to fuel efficiency.

MINI Cooper

There is a reason that a lot of people are turning towards smaller cars these days and that’s because smaller cars tend to get the best gas mileage. That’s true of the new MINI Cooper cars which are small in size and great on gas. They get over 30 miles per gallon so you can go and go for quite awhile in comparison to many of the larger cars that are out there on the road. If you need a little bit more room than a MINI Cooper can give you, perhaps you’d do well to get a MINI Clubman which is a new vehicle that has the same edgy style as the MINI Cooper with a little more legroom.

Smart Fortwo

If you’re really looking for a small car then perhaps a two-seater Smart car would be more up your alley. This isn’t the right car for most people but there’s a certain segment of car buyer (particularly single folks living in urban areas where parking is limited) who want a tiny vehicle. This one is tiny all right and it gets over 30 mpg so it’s easy on the pocketbook at the gas station.

Volkswagen Jetta

The Jetta is a car that often gets overlooked by the average driver but actually gets some decent attention from those drivers who are truly concerned with getting good gas mileage. That’s because it’s a car that doesn’t require a hybrid engine to get the kind of great gas mileage that you would expect from a hybrid car. It’s easy to get about 35 miles per gallon with this car and these are well-made cars that will last you a long time which is something that the person purchasing a vehicle in 2009 is probably concerned about. There is some variation in the fuel efficiency between the different types of Jettas (sportwagens, diesels, manual transmissions) but they all get good gas mileage.

Toyota Yaris

Personally I’m not a huge fan of this car because it’s kind of basic without a lot of frills and the design of the vehicle isn’t aesthetically appealing to me. Nevertheless, it is a solid car and it’s one that gets good gas mileage without costing you a lot in terms of the purchase of the vehicle itself (the car only costs around $12000). There are 2-door, 4-door and 5-door versions of the Toyota Yaris and they all get good gas mileage (averaging about 30 miles per gallon according to most reports) but the 2-door version gets slightly better gas mileage than the other options for this car.

Ford Escape Hybrid

People aren’t as inclined to purchase a big vehicle these days but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t at least a few SUV buyers out there. The Ford Escape Hybrid is a good choice for the individual who still wants the luxury of an SUV (although technically this is a crossover or CUV) but who also wants to get a good deal in terms of the gas mileage of the vehicle. Since it’s well built and it’s got a hybrid engine, this 2009 vehicle gets over 30 miles to the gallon.

Mercury Mariner Hybrid

Another vehicle that is comparable to the Ford Escape Hybrid is this one from Mercury. It gets about the same gas mileage and has about as much room inside of it as the Ford Escape Hybrid so this is another case where the choice between the two vehicles comes down to personal preference.

Mazda Tribute Hybrid

There is one more vehicle that falls right in line with the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner Hybrids and that’s the Mazda Tribute. Again, it’s really similar to those cars in terms of the miles per gallon, the total car cost and the size of the vehicle so you just have to try them out and see which of these good gas mileage CUVs is right for you.

Honda Fit

Another type of large vehicle that some people may continue to take an interest in despite an overall decline in the popularity of the car type is the station wagon. The Honda Fit is considered to be a small station wagon and the most fuel efficient in its category of cars. It gets over 30 miles per gallon which is good for a car of its size.

Backpacking adventures: real stories

2010-08-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

Cycling to India

When I was 11, during a junior school leavers' assembly in front of all the mums and dads, my headmistress asked my class what they wanted to do when they left school. Footballer, doctor, film star, politician, came the replies. My answer? "I want to cycle round the world and raise money for charity." A big "ahhhhh" resounded around the school hall. "So sweet."

Little did they know that 20 years later I would be setting off on a 9,000-mile journey to India. On my own. Carrying everything I needed on my steel-framed bicycle, affectionately known as "Shirley".

I would like to say it was planned to the nth degree and that everything ran like clockwork. In reality, I was arrested twice, chased by wild dogs, beaten (and wined and dined) by the mafia, attacked by bandits …

On my last day I was cycling through the Bandipur wildlife park in southern India. My flowery bike wasn't great camouflage and startled a number of elephants as I passed. They decided to charge.

The advice is "if an elephant charges you, stand your ground, and bow your head to show respect". What tosh! With 30 tonnes of muscle and bone crashing towards me, destroying small trees and making the ground vibrate under my feet, there was no way I was standing firm. I dropped my bike into third gear and floored it.

Another time I ran out of food and water in the desert and was woken one morning to find maggots in my hair and beard.

Yet the greatest memories are of so many wonderful people I met in every country, who invited me into their homes to celebrate local festivals, play music, dance, sing, eat, and share each other's cultures, beliefs, history and way of life.

After six months' cycling, I rolled into Chembakolli, a tiny village, my final destination. It was my 31st birthday – 20 years since I had first dreamed up the idea. I was greeted by a carnival of people playing drums, singing, cheering, and waving banners saying "Happy birthday". All I could do was crouch down and cry tears of joy. I'd cycled 9,000 miles from England to India. I'd lived my dream.

Conservation protest camp in Tasmania

I was on a year out in Australia, and after a few months in the red centre I decided to go to Tasmania to escape the heat, and to see big trees. The island is home to a vast forest of Eucalyptus regnans, the largest flowering plants in the world.

Within a few days of arriving I heard word of protest activity in the Upper Florentine Valley, a pristine corner of virgin forest under threat from various logging projects.

I decided to hitch there, and for the last part of the journey I rode with TK, a Canadian biologist who had been living at the Florentine camp for two years. He gave me a brief history of the area as we entered the forest. These Eucalyptus regnans, at 60m tall, may not be the biggest trees in the world – one California redwood is 98m, for example – but never, TK assured me, would I feel as dwarfed by nature as when among the giants of the Florentine Valley.

The protest has been going on since 2006, when Forestry Tasmania began extending the road into the forest. Protesters live in the trees so that they won't be cut down, though there has been much confrontation and some arrests. "Don't ever go in there," TK said as we passed a lonely, redbrick pub. "If they think you look like one of us – a week or so at the camp should do it – they'll kick the shit out of you."

The local climate is incredibly wet, adding a ghostly white cover to the giant trees. Rain-soaked banners high up in the branches – "Toot for Tassy's Forests", "Still Wild, Still Threatened" – were visible from the roadside. But no amount of neck-craning can quantify the trees' size.

For an eco-friendly backpacker, the Florentine camp provided a cheap and exciting alternative to a volunteer project. Bring food donations, good conversation and a useful pair of hands and the vast Tasmanian wilderness is yours to explore. Camp life was centred on communal meals, firewood runs, clean-ups and lookout reports. Each night, wet hair and cloth steamed by a campfire under a blue tarpaulin. Plates of food were passed around – curried baked beans topped with fresh parsley.

A camp veteran of six months told me how she was humbled by a spectacular light display from the aurora australis. Another veteran had a doctorate in zoology, and used the camp as a base for a statistical project on the Tasmanian devil population. I spent a couple of days on the west coast's Bay of Fires – a wild, windswept clash of white-sand beaches, turquoise water, brooding skies and red-stained granite rocks.

As well as being a good place to become actively involved in forest conservation, the camp was where people shared travellers' tips – a valuable resource that is often ignored in favour of a guidebook.

A year in Saudi Arabia

Yearnings for the bamboo forests of China, the ski slopes of Switzerland and the karaoke booths of Japan – highlights of my previous gap years – don't surprise me, but I never imagined the minarets of Saudi Arabia would call me back.

It is two years since I returned from Jeddah, but when I close my eyes on a grey English day I'm walking the city's ancient streets again, seeking out Bukhari chicken or Egyptian flat bread.

Money was my motivation for going to a country famous for exporting oil and terrorism; it has some of the best paid English teaching jobs in the world, and I managed to save £8,500 in just six months working at a boys' school there. I chose my new home city carefully. As the gateway to Mecca, through which the Muslim world passes on the hajj, the port of Jeddah is Saudi Arabia's most cosmopolitan and liberal city.

My new Saudi friends warned me against even visiting the capital Riyadh, home of Wahhabism. In Jeddah I knew Saudis, as well as western women, who walked the streets unaccompanied by a man and with their heads uncovered, something they could never do in Riyadh.

Jeddah also boasts some of the world's best coral reefs. Diving on the Saudi side of the Red Sea offers the same underwater riches as the Egyptian Sinai, but without the crowds.

On the downside, I didn't speak to a woman for my first two months there, but I eventually found a private beach where the sexes could mix.

My first lesson on a jetski was fleeing the coastguard. A Palestinian girl had taken me for a ride when we saw their ship approaching. For fear of being caught together we hid in a cove. Women are barred from driving any kind of motorised vehicles so I had to take the controls and when they passed we sped out of the cove and back to the beach James-Bond style.

Bizarre experiences inform my anecdotes about Saudi Arabia – gate-crashing a wedding and ending up on stage in front of 2,000 guests, my Saudi girlfriend's mother catching us at my apartment together … But what I long for is visiting the crumbling, centuries-old buildings of Old Jeddah, smoking shisha in coffeshops and sipping sweet Adeni tea with a friend.

The kingdom is a harsh place, but the people who live there are the most hospitable I've ever met. I went for the riyals but came back richer in so many other ways.

Finding my own volunteer work and inspiration in Asia

In October 2008 two friends and I started our gap year in Thailand. We began in Bangkok, where we shopped non-stop on Khao San Road, then moved to Koh Samui to learn Muay Thai kickboxing, and up to Pai for yoga and massage courses. We went across to Laos for cooking lessons, and it was here that I went into a school and helped with English lessons. I'd always been put off volunteering by the idea of having to pay a company to work for nothing, but this was free.

We moved onto Vietnam, and back to marathon shopping, but I just wasn't feeling it. I'd got a taste for doing something "better" and I wanted to do more of it. So I left my mates and went ahead to Cambodia.

The day I arrived I found an HIV orphanage called House of Family, where I volunteered. I asked the doctor what happened to all the other orphans – there were only 30 kids at the orphanage but the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Cambodia is among the highest in Asia. She explained that they were living at the rubbish dumps, so that is where I went.

I discovered children eating dirt, sleeping on dirt and walking barefoot on burning toxic waste. It was inhumane and unacceptable. So I came back to England, borrowed a video camera, raised £1,000 on Facebook and returned two weeks later to do the first Small Steps project. I gave wellington boots, clothes aid, food and water to the children. Then I came home, edited the film, screened it and got an amazing reaction from the public. I registered Small Steps as a charity and intend to repeat the project – called Around The World in 80 Dumps – on inhabited dumps around the world, to create awareness and help people. I am now the director of Small Steps, the next project is in Nicaragua.

Hitchhiking to Israel

After spending 32 tedious hours on a coach last summer, I was considering giving up overlanding. But as I sat in front of the easyJet website this summer I couldn't quite bring myself to double the size of my carbon footprint for the year with just one click. Instead, I decided I'd rely on my thumb and the kindness of strangers and take a risk on that most controversial form of transport, particularly for women: the hitchhike.

A friend would accompany me as far as Zagreb, then I'd go on alone to Israel, through Turkey, Syria and Jordan. Three hours after posting a request on the website Gumtree (gumtree.com) we had a lift from Hounslow East in London to Mannheim in southern Germany. A week and three lifts later, we were couchsurfing (couchsurfing.org) in Berlin.

We became pros at working service stations, asking every car that pulled in whether they had space for two travellers: "You go?" … point at map, smile, get in. There were BMWs, a limousine and a Slovenian rocking out to Pink Floyd.

In some cars, especially after a night spent camping just off the hard-shoulder, my head would droop and 12 hours later I'd wake to realise I'd missed an entire country (sorry Slovakia, Bulgaria and northern Israel), but the further east I went, the more unfamiliar the scenery became and the more often my eyes would stay open.

Even the worst experience could turn into a high point. We were dropped just north of Munich in the rain as it was getting dark, and were stuck for two hours, soaking wet, our spirits low.

A couple in a people-wagon finally saved the day. They planned to drop us at a service station where we could hitch a lift into Austria. We talked and joked about small things – the scenery, the baptism that they'd been to. I told them about my year as a parish administrator and the reverence that the baptism register commanded. By the end of that conversation they had decided I was a girl with an unambiguous calling who had put faith on hold to struggle against climate change. It turned out the man was a Protestant priest, and rather than drop us at a service station to pitch our tent in the rain, they offered us a night in their spare flat in the Bavarian mountains – hot water, fresh towels, beds all to ourselves, and for free – bliss.

I spent over a month in the Middle East and saw sights that the guidebooks are yet to discover. Relying on the famed Syrian kindness, I was taken in, fed and cared for by a family for four days. They then drove me most of the three hours to Mar Musa monastery, enjoyed by few travellers.

In Israel I lost myself in the carefree parties of Tel Aviv, making friends with kids who'd just finished military service ("Who cares about peace? We just want peace of mind"). The next day I went to Jerusalem to yell in protest with the activists in the West Bank. I was given access to both worlds, the only condition that I would listen to the stories that they told about the other side.

And it was this necessity to listen that made my decision to hitchhike so much more than just a cheap way to travel. Each was an invitation to get close to someone.

Hitchhiking is the start of a story where anything might happen. You escape the check-in queue and have faith in the moment, in people and yourself. You begin a story with each person you meet. Living another person's life, if only for one journey, will teach you more about their culture than any guidebook.

Working on a farm in Scotland

For many of my generation, the gap year between school and university was spent volunteering in orphanages or sunning on an Aussie beach. Being pretentious but poor I decided instead that my fate lay on a Scottish island. I had been to Mull on holiday and figured I would spend my days wandering the beach, reading epic novels and having flings with strapping farmers.

I was a troubled teenager, desperate to escape the woes of life in a remote Kentish village, terrifyingly clueless about my career path.

When I told her my plans, my mother, somewhat spitefully, said, "How on earth are you going to do that?", which galvanized me into asking the tourist office if there were any friendly farmers. Fortune had it that I managed to speak to a girl called Claire, a conversation that changed my life. Claire knew of just the man, a farmer in the south of Mull who periodically "took in" young folk like me to help out on his 22,000 acres. Our brief phone call (he had an impossibly posh accent) went something like this:

"Have you ever worked on a farm?"

"Erm, nope."

"Know anything about farming?"

"Nope"

"Are you fit?"

"Not particularly"

"I like your chutzpah. I'll pay your coach fare. If we like you, you can stay."

I stepped off the ferry in cropped, dyed red hair, round glasses, ripped jeans and Dr. Marten boots, prompting the farmer to squint at me in disbelief and ask if I was a punk.

Lochbuie – where I lived – is a 17-house village, beautiful and appealing to holidaying wildlife lovers, archaeologists and photographers. Sites include the uninhabited 15th-century Moy Castle and the impressive (inhabited) 18th-century Lochbuie House, overlooking the loch. Mull remains one of the most beautiful, unspoilt places in the UK. I returned recently and nothing had changed.

I hated it for the first few weeks. But the farmer and his wife persevered through my astonishing ignorance about the world and I went from self-obsessed teenager who'd never done a day's work in her life (bar the sort that you could give up if you didn't like it) to a useful (ish) member of the community.

I emerged at the end of the experience fitter, fatter, better-read and able to sleep.

Hazel Davis, 33, copywriter, Huddersfield

Family gap year

We lived in Cornwall in a beautiful barn conversion with stunning valley views and only a short drive to the glorious Atlantic coast: my wife Nicki, with a beauticians business in Wadebridge, 15-year-old Michael, addicted to Xbox games, Emmaline, 13 going on 19, and me, John, full-time artist.

Wanting to see the world had been nagging at me for years. In the end we decided to just do it. The kids could be schooled as we travelled and the experiences they'd get would be possibly life-changing – hell, we might even find somewhere better to live than Cornwall.

Having sold everything to fund the trip we had just three weeks to prepare, decide where to go and buy our round-the-world tickets: we opted for Japan, south-east Asia, Australia, New Zealand, a stop in the Cook islands and finally the United States. The furthest we'd ever been prior to this was Bulgaria.

We flew to Tokyo the day after Boxing Day, and stayed with a family in rural Japan, eating sushi with them each day and trying to communicate with gesticulations and props – sake seemed to help the conversations somewhat. Dressed in traditional kimono and samurai we visited Buddhist and Shinto temples on New Year's Day.

We went on to learn to dive in Thailand, helped out at a charitable school in Cambodia, camped in the Australian outback and skied in August in New Zealand. But constantly moving on every few days can be exhausting, especially for kids, so sometimes we'd just slob and watch DVDs in a rented apartment. The experiences have been so many and varied, and has been highly rewarding for the whole family. We'll have plenty of stories to "entertain" our friends and relatives at Christmas when we return in December.

Julian Assange Rape warrant against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange cancelled

2010-08-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

Swedish authorities have withdrawn an arrest warrant for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, stating that the accusation of rape against him was unfounded.

The move came just a day after a warrant was issued by Sweden's prosecutors' office in Stockholm in response to accusations of rape and molestation in two separate cases.

"I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape," the chief prosecutor, Eva Finne, said.

She made no comment on the status of the molestation case, a less serious charge that would not lead to an arrest warrant.

Assange has denied both accusations, first reported by the Swedish tabloid Expressen, which were described as dirty tricks on the Wikileaks' Twitter account.

He implied that they were linked to the release by the whistleblowers' website of a huge cache of US military records on the Afghan war, which were published in collaboration with the Guardian and two other newspapers.

Assange wrote: "The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing."

Earlier postings on the Twitter account implied the accusations were part of a dirty tricks campaign against the Wikileaks founder, who has been strongly criticised by the Pentagon.

"Expressen is a tabloid; No one here has been contacted by Swedish police. Needless to say, this will prove hugely distracting.

"We were warned to expect 'dirty tricks'. Now we have the first one."

Last month Wikileaks released around 77,000 secret US military documents on the war in Afghanistan.

US authorities criticised the leak, saying it could put the lives of Nato troops and Afghan informants at risk.

Assange has said that Wikileaks intends to release a further 15,000 documents in the coming weeks - a pledge condemned by the Pentagon, which has demanded the deletion of the files from the website.

Assange, an Australian citizen, was in Sweden last week to apply for a publishing certificate to make sure the website, which has servers in Sweden, can take full advantage of Swedish laws protecting whistleblowers.

He also gave a talk about his work and defended the decision by Wikileaks to publish the Afghan war logs.

CELEB MOM DR. LAURA SCHLESSINGER IN TROUBLE

2010-08-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

DR. LAURA Schlessinger has now apologized for her racist comments to a women questioning in her talk show.DR.LAURA explained that she was in tension when she commented that the woman was 'hypersensitive' to racism.

Later Dr. Laura ended the show a bit early, and she explained to listeners on Wednesday that she’d been so upset over her behavior that she couldn’t continue.

Let’s just put aside the fact that it’s hard to understand how someone could say that word 11 times and only later realize how wrong it was. Why does Dr. Laura, the mother of a son who served a tour of duty in Afghanistan, keep putting her foot in her mouth? She clearly doesn’t have an “off” button. Here, three other major blow-ups she’s been at the center of over the past 10 years.

2000 – Dr. Laura says homosexuality is a “biological error” and gay people should stay closeted, prompting massive protests over her new TV talk show.

2007 – The Santa Barbara News-Press suspends Dr. Laura’s column after questions arise over a MySpace page with violent imagery attributed to Dr. Laura’s son, Deryk. But it’s never clear if the page is real or a forgery.

2008 – Proclaims that wives may share some of the blame when their husbands cheat, claiming they’re pushed into cheating when their needs are not being met. We bet Sandra Bullock disagrees with that.

Fidel Castro Fidel Castro returns to public life.

2010-08-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

Fidel Castro Addresses the Cuban national assembly, his first official appearance in four years. Photograph: Desmond Boylan/Reuters

A lively and healthy-looking Fidel Castro appealed to President Barack Obama to stave off global nuclear war in an address to the Cuban parliament yesterday, his first official government appearance since emergency surgery four years ago.

Castro, who turns 84 in a week, wore olive-green fatigues devoid of military insignia and arrived on the arm of an aide who steadied him as he walked into the national assembly. The approximately 600 lawmakers present sprang to their feet and applauded as the grey-bearded revolutionary stepped on to the podium, grinning broadly and waving.

"Fidel, Fidel, Fidel," chanted the members of parliament. "Viva Fidel."

For months, Castro has warned in written opinion columns that American pressure on Iran could push the world towards global nuclear conflagaration.

"Eight weeks ago, I thought that the imminent danger of war didn't have a possible solution. So dramatic was the problem that I didn't see another way out," Castro told the legislature. "I am sure that it won't be like that and, instead … one man will make the decision alone: the president of the United States ."

He added of Obama: "Surely with his multiple worries he hasn't realised this yet, but his advisers have."

Castro didn't mention domestic Cuban politics or the foundering economy – instead sticking to the threat of war, the issue for which he convened Saturday's special session of parliament.

His attendance, along with recent public appearances after a nearly four-year absence from public view, is sure to raise more questions about how much of a leadership role Castro is ready to reassume.

Is he itching to retake his position as Cuba's "maximum leader" – or simply well enough to warn lawmakers in person that the end of the world could be near?

Castro's speech lasted barely 11 minutes – possibly a record for a man became famous for his hours-long discourses during 49 years in power – and was largely devoid of his usual America-bashing. He referred to the US as "the empire" only a few times, though he did say that if Obama didn't intervene he would "be ordering the instantaneous death ... of hundreds of millions of people, among them an incalculable number of inhabitants of his own homeland."

There was no immediate response from the White House.

It was Castro's first appearance in parliament or at a government event since a health crisis in July 2006 forced him to cede power to his younger brother Raúl – first temporarily, then permanently. He had intestinal surgery prompted by an illness whose nature has been kept a state secret, and spent years recovering at an undisclosed location.

MECHELE LINHAN, MURDER ACCUSED ON BAIL

2010-08-08T05:53:00.000-07:00

MECHELE LINHAN- was accused of the murder of her fiance, Kent Lepink. She sentenced 99 years of imprisonment , however, she applied for bail before the court.she was blessed with a conditional bail to be supervised by a series of a third party court approved custodian later on this condition was relaxed.

she was presented before the court to get her statement recorded for the first time . this was based on a recorded interview a day after the death of her former fiance.
Kent Leppink was a fisherman who moved from Michigan to Alaska where he met Mechelle at Great Alaska Bush Company. he was found dead on may 2, 1996, at hope , Alaska . he was shot with a .44 caliber gun.he wrote to his parents about his $ one million life insurance policy, and he apprised them of a foul play in which Mechelle , John Carlin, or Scott Hilke were probably behind that.

In 1998, Mechelle married medical student Colin Linehan, and settled in Olympia, Washington. She earned a Master of Public Administration from the Evergreen State College, and operated a laser clinic where Colin worked.

Watch Mechelle Linehan addressed the courtroom in her murder trial. The jury also got to hear an audio recording of Linehan being questioned by authorities. The recording was from a 1996, interview conducted one day after Kent Leppink was found dead.

Saks adding bigger sizes in fashion collections

2010-08-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK — The designer-level racks at select Saks Fifth Avenue stores are expanding. Beginning this fall, the options for women looking for sizes 16 and 18 will include more high-fashion styles.

"Saks Fifth Avenue always strives to meet the needs of our customers. After recent review, we concluded there are customers who desire designer clothing in sizes that are not currently available in our stores," the company said in a statement.

Saks has for years had its Salon Z department, which caters to plus sizes, but this new initiative targets ripped-from-the-runway looks from the likes of Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera, and will include larger sizes within designer departments.

Adding larger sizes, especially for designers who sometimes don't sell anything larger than a 10 or 12 in their own boutiques, is a considerable commitment, said Sasha Iglehart, deputy fashion director at Glamour. "It's a real investment for these brands to make sizes in that range. It's not just taking a pattern and making it bigger," she said. "The proportions are different, and there has to be real thought into what's flattering to women in that size range."

"I hope this inspires other retailers and designers," Iglehart added.

During the last round of major Fashion Weeks back in February, there was a noticeable effort to cast some curvier models on the catwalk, and for its resort show in June, Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld put size 12-model Crystal Renn in a starring role. Red-carpet favorite Marchesa, meanwhile, created a custom plus-size Oscar gown for Gabourey Sidibe.

"She looked stunning and carried the dress beautifully," said Marchesa co-founder and designer Georgina Chapman. "It's always an honor to work with talented individuals like her who love fashion and have such amazing personal style."

Iglehart said that many women, regardless of size, want the opportunity to participate in fashion.

"I hope the fashion industry is changing its attitude," she said. "If we have the designers finally on board, I'm sure there'll be no shortage of customers for great clothes."

Norma Lopez: Another victim of Missing White Woman Syndrome?

2010-07-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Anthony Thomas didn't get the same powerful attraction to search as missing person as 7 year old Kyron Horman get this on her miss placement early to last month.its the media who give a value to one person and neglect the other one in same situation.

It was only a yet another example of the media’s crush to report on abductions and foul play involving white women and children, while giving little coverage to minorities who disappear: The latest example is 17-year-old Norma Lopez, who appears to have been kidnapped on her way home from summer school in Moreno Valley, Calif. Most of the coverage of Lopez’s disappearance has come from local news outlets, while the national attention to the case by places like the Los Angeles Times and CNN has been restricted to short blog posts — rising nowhere near the level that dominated the disappearances of girls like Elizabeth Smart and Natalee Holloway.

Media coverage is crucial to the cases of people who go missing because it is often vigilant members of the public who can play a role in helping law enforcement find the victim. Certainly a young, beautiful girl like Lopez and the eery circumstances surrounding her going missing — some of her belongings and “evidence of a struggle” were found in a field Lopez would walk through as a shortcut — are just as deserving of coverage as any other person — white, female or otherwise.