World Around Us

Interesting cake

2011-12-09T08:27:00.001-08:00

See what other people make cakes for their celebration or their loved ones. Maybe you get a new idea in itself.

No matter how adorable dogs can be

2011-12-09T08:23:00.000-08:00

No matter how adorable dogs can be, they still have tendencies to chew things to pieces. Inside, you’ll see a selection of photos of little pooches ruining various things.

Fotobomb – Cats And Dogs

2011-12-09T08:19:00.001-08:00

Lighted portraits of animals, and other four-footed bastards

German ghost town

2011-12-09T08:17:00.001-08:00

A small German town with a sly name. Somewhere in East Germany. People here do not live long, and occasionally tourists come to walk through the deserted streets of the dilapidated.

Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt Step Out for Her Directorial Debut

2011-12-09T08:13:00.001-08:00

After the New York premiere of her directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Pitt's parents led a VIP crowd -- including Julian Schnabel, Jason Lee and Brady Corbet -- to the Standard Hotel for an afterparty.

On the hotel roof, Jolie hung with Pitt and his mom, Jane Pitt, and dad, Bill Pitt, until about 1:00am local time, sources said. Jolie was overheard joking that the family should "take their holiday photo" from the spot, with its sweeping views of the city.

Set in Bosnia during the war and genocide of the 90s, the film "packed an emotional wallop," one guest said.

Jolie, who earlier posed on the red carpet with Pitt's parents, is headed to LA for another premiere Wednesday.

Storm on the US west coast

2011-12-09T08:12:00.001-08:00

Storm warning is valid in California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming. In Los Angeles, take the hit disaster on the night of Friday, wind gusts to uproot trees, overturned cars and tore power lines. At the hour of energy was violated international airport in Los Angeles. The city declared a state of emergency canceled classes in schools.

Virtual Decapitation of Models in H&M Online Catalog Unites Models, Feminists in Its Opposition

2011-12-09T08:09:00.001-08:00

Modeling agencies and feminists often find themselves on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to women's issues. Not so when it comes to fashion retailer H&M's practice of interchanging models’ faces onto a single digitally enhanced body on their online store. Virtually decapitating models and creating a so-called “perfect” body has raised the ire of women in the feminist blogosphere and professionals in the modeling industry.

Which is no mean feat.

“It is disrespectful and lazy. It is the job of the brand to properly scout for their models and find those that represent their brand in every aspect. They need to take the responsibility of looking deep into the model pool to find the right people instead of digitally creating what they need,” Michael Flutie, the creator and cast member of E!’s newest model search reality show “Scouted,” tells Fox411. “It is [also] dangerous, especially for teenagers who are led to believe that manipulation and the alteration of bodies is acceptable.”

Chloe Angyal, editor of the women's site Feministing.com, agrees.

“We already live in a culture where the gap between what we’re told women’s bodies should look like and what women’s bodies actually look like is wide enough to drive a truck through. The practice of digitally slicing and dicing these models to cobble together a vision of female beauty that is literally impossible to achieve in real life is widening that gap still further,” she told Fox411.

Jennifer Ward, a rep for H&M, defended the images, calling them “virtual mannequins.”

“The virtual mannequins are used in the same way as we use mannequins in our stores for ladies wear and menswear,” Ward told Fox411, adding that the company did not mean to mislead consumers into thinking that the pictures showed the actual bodies of the models She said the budget fashion retailer is currently holding discussion on how to make that information more clear to the online consumer since it does not disclose anywhere on their site that the models used are in fact digitally enhanced.

“It is regrettable if we have led anyone to believe that the virtual mannequins should be real bodies. This is incorrect and has never been our intention,” Ward said. “We will continue to discuss internally how we can be clearer about this in the information towards our customers.”

That's not enough for Angyal.

“Defending this practice by pointing to store mannequins doesn’t strengthen the case for this practice: most store mannequins are so slender that if they were real women, they wouldn’t have enough body fat on them to sustain menstruation," she said. "That’s not healthy, and neither are the crushingly unrealistic beauty ideals that H&M is reinforcing.”

Even digital advertising professionals are raising their eyebrows.

“One issue is that they're doing this and not making a disclaimer, essentially trying to pass off this digital body as a real one. Another is that it's one stock body - suggesting there is only one ideal body type and shape, which is bad for already poor body image in young women. And the third seems to be that it's aesthetically off-putting,” Farrah Bostic, the creative strategist and founder of The Difference Engine digital strategy and design company, told Fox411.

And at the end of the day, it may just be bad business.

“They are not selling the model, that's true. But they are selling back to the shopper ‘herself’ in that dress or with that bag or in those shoes. They are selling her an augmented version of herself. To put unrelatable, uncanny, or cringe-worthy women (real or fake) in those clothes only distances women from the shopping experience and from the clothes themselves. These uncanny valley thinspiration models are clearly a distraction from the clothes, and make it harder - not easier - to imagine yourself in them. And that, quite simply, doesn't sell,” Bostic says.

Even if H&M sticks with its computer generated bodies, the practice likely won’t collapse the modeling industry. Digital models simply can’t walk a catwalk and so far they can’t do high end glossy magazine photo shoots to properly satisfy the artistic vision of fashion magazine editors.

“When it comes to selling clothes in the pages of an editorial in a glossy fashion mag or on a runway you still need the real thing,” Fashionista.com editor Leah Chernikoff tells Fox411. “You still need models with unique and special looks.”

Chinese man eaten bag of iPad

2011-12-09T08:07:00.001-08:00

Strange guy made a strange act … He ate the leather cover on the iPad. Chinese boy found an old cover from the tablet, washed it, cut into pieces, fried and eaten. A normal person can do that? I think not! And why he did it – you can only guess.

Mother heroine

2011-12-09T08:04:00.001-08:00

When the Irish Setter Romy was giving birth, her owners were determined to a large litter – puppies for eight, or even nine! But the reality has exceeded all expectations. Heroine Mother gave birth to 15 babies! All of them are alive and well.

REVIEW: 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' Is No 'Jason Bourne,' and That's Okay

2011-12-09T08:03:00.001-08:00

Some movies are like a smooth glass of pinot noir. Others are like a good, cheap beer. “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” with its meticulous Cold War details and labyrinthine plot, is like a smoky 25-year-old single malt scotch whiskey. It hits you hard, but goes down smooooth.

Gary Oldman, in a compelling and subtle performance, is George Smiley, a quick-witted British spy who is forced out of retirement during the height of the Cold War in 1973. Smiley must discreetly uncover a double agent in the Circus, a secret organization within the British Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6. Enlisting the aid of a young agent, Smiley embarks on a dangerous, confusing maze of manipulating, double-crossing spies, all the while dealing with personal baggage.

Directed by Tomas Alfredson (“Let the Right One In”) and based on the acclaimed novel by John le Carré, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy“ is gripping from start to finish. The absorbing screenplay by Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan is a delicate in its slow burn, and keeping you at the edge of your seat.

Jason Bourne this is not. “Tinker” is more of a thrill ride in a Rolls Royce.

“Tinker” also boasts impeccable performances by Oscar-winner Colin Firth, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch. Mark Strong, who’s become Hollywood’s resident movie villain, shines with a cloistered and fragile performance. Oldman, though he only has a fraction of the dialogue in the film, is a tour de force.

Characters come before plot in “Tinker,” which separates it from others in the genre. The plot is confusing at points and slightly suffers from the time constraints of a feature film. (“Tinker” was also made as a 1979 U.K. miniseries.)

Alfredson’s recreation of 1970’s Europe is gorgeous. The costumes, set design and solemn score by Alberto Iglesias construct an artful vision of the spy games played during the Cold War. And like a great glass of scotch, when you’re finished, you’ll want a second.

Carving on eggshell

2011-12-09T08:01:00.001-08:00

Using only egg shells, modern masters make no less filigree than the famous Faberge. Patterns on the eggshell, which create artists Lew Jensen, Don Lisk, Gary LeMaster and Brian Bayti, just incredible. To create an openwork structure of such a brittle material requires great patience and skill.

Why Washington Is Shocked, Shocked By Newt Gingrich's Rise Over Mitt Romney

2011-12-09T07:59:00.001-08:00

One of the more enjoyable spectacles out of Washington lately has been the horror of establishment Beltway Republicans that Newt Gingrich just might be their presidential nominee, having jumped ahead of Mitt Romney in recent polls. The cause of this is simple if often disguised: Newt is the opposite of everything they just know to be true.

Take for example Peggy Noonan, who pronounced Gingrich all but dead in May, noting “I have yet to meet a Gingrich 2012 supporter.”

But last week, without quite admitting her analytical shortcomings, she said “the entire Washington journo-political complex has been taken by surprise by something that not only wasn’t predicted but couldn’t have been.”

At least not from Washington or Manhattan.

Back in our capital city, Jennifer Rubin, the Republican at the Washington Post, congratulated herself noting “I suggested that Republicans ‘could pull a name out of a hat and find a more consistent and personally stable conservative’ than Newt Gingrich. Many smart conservatives seem to agree.” Maybe Ms. Rubin should start listening to people she thinks are dumb.

And then there is Karl Rove, the man George W. Bush called the “architect,” who echoed the growing refrain of establishment Republicans that “Mr. Gingrich has little or no campaign organization in Iowa and most other states.” Yet somehow Gingrich is ahead by 12% in the RealClearPolitics average of Iowa polls.

When not writing for the record, the voices of the establishment are even more incredulous. Newt is not only not their first choice—he is their last choice.

Why is this so? The answer lies in the nature of the Beltway Republican establishment. The problem is that most of what Gingrich proposes runs counter to what they have been conditioned to accept.

After all, this basically remains the Republican establishment that ran both of the federal government’s political branches for the better part of the last decade and managed to achieve essentially no conservative goals. The establishment Republicans didn’t merely acquiesce to big government implications of George W. Bush’s “compassionate conservatism” – they insisted on it. More than a few Bush officials who visited Capitol Hill lamented that it was difficult to tell the difference between Republicans and Democrats on spending issues. While President Obama has normalized trillion-dollar deficits, establishment Republicans got us halfway there during the previous decade.

Do not suppose Beltway Republicans have found religion since. Recall Republican Speaker Boehner claiming earlier this year that he would cut $100 billion of government spending—a modest goal considering the federal budget now exceeds $3500 billion. That cut soon became $61 billion, then a mere $39 billion (and realistically nothing when gimmicks are excluded). And Republicans share with Democrats parenthood of the subsequent ‘Super Committee’ fiasco.

Now reenter Newt Gingrich, the man whom Republican Washington just knows failed as Speaker of the House, despite the welfare, capital gains tax and balanced budget reforms that bear his fingerprints.

On EPA replacement, for example, Gingrich says: “I don’t think you can train the current bureaucrats. I think their bias against capitalism, their bias against local government, their bias against economic rationality, is just amazing.”

Here, Gingrich is revealing his reverence for Andrew Jackson, who in his presidency succeeded in replacing fully one-fifth of the federal bureaucracy, seeing this as a requirement for radical change.

Most Washingtonian Republicans view desires like this as hopelessly naive. During their careers, they have seen modest changes, but nothing like the major shifts in Washington that have occurred at turning points in American history. Those with historical knowledge of them tend to know only of times the bureaucracy grew as opposed to those where it was actually tamed.

The idea of reversing federal growth is fine to keep on the wish list, but those who advocate it seriously are seen as rubes—either new arrivals in Washington who just fell off a turnip truck or unsophisticated congressmen from ‘flyover country.’ To be a true Beltway Republican is to have accepted the assumption that the scope of government cannot be radically altered. And they think it is politically foolish to try.

Thus the establishment just knows that you run a moderate like Mitt Romney for president. Conservatives have no place else to go and independents will be attracted—historical evidence to the contrary be damned.

Gingrich challenges this, believing 2012 may be one of those historical turning points where voters will be most attracted by a candidate who offers a radical divergence.

But even more damning, Gingrich has the audacity to imagine that Washington can be run without his own party’s establishment. Their assumption of dominating the next Republican administration is not safe if it is Gingrich. He is not proposing to replace the Democratic piano player at the brothel that is Washington with a slightly sterner-sounding Republican. Instead, he claims he will close the brothel. And the establishment of his own party just knows that can’t happen. In their lives, it never has. And where are they then to go for their pork and porking?

The establishment may still prevail. There are nearly infinite news cycles until the nomination is won by someone. Gingrich’s opponents are not close to giving up and serious Wall Street money is falling squarely behind Romney. But the champagne glasses will clink a little lighter on the Potomac this season—a little Christmas miracle of its own.

House on Collision Course With Obama Over Payroll Tax Cut, as Senate Bills Fail

2011-12-09T07:56:00.001-08:00

House Republicans are on a collision course with the White House and potentially the Senate over an emerging proposal to extend the payroll tax cut, teeing up a protracted debate that could keep lawmakers in Washington for the holidays as they try to avert a Jan. 1 tax increase.

The Senate on Thursday afternoon rejected rival Democratic and GOP plans for extending the cut. The failure was expected, cueing the House to step in with a new plan.

Details of that proposal, expected to be unveiled in full on Friday, suggest its Republican authors are preparing for a showdown with President Obama. The bill includes a controversial provision to move along the construction of an oil pipeline from Canada to Texas -- the Obama administration recently put that project on hold until after the 2012 election, citing environmental and safety concerns.

The provision pertaining to the Keystone pipeline helped sweeten the deal for House conservatives skeptical of a payroll tax extension.

Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., told Fox News that a number of Republicans who were on the fence said they would vote for the bill if it includes the Keystone pipeline provision.

House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday he's confident Republicans are ready to move on the proposal.

But Obama explicitly has said he will reject any effort to tie the Keystone pipeline construction to the tax extension. His allies echoed that message Friday.

"It's a non-starter," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said.

Her top deputy, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., urged Republicans to "reconsider" the Keystone language.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney warned Republicans not to include "extraneous attachments" in the bill.

"Whatever happened to Republicans being for tax cuts?" Carney asked. "Is it because this one goes to 160 million Americans, middle-class working Americans, that they're ambivalent or they're willing to oppose it if they don't get some political scalp? Is it because President Obama supports it, or Democrats support it?"

At stake is a cut in the Social Security tax valued at about $1,000 a year for the average family.

The rate was lowered from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent for 2011, but that expires at the end of the year without action by Congress. Obama has called for extending the cut, and increasing it by another percentage point. He also wants Congress to extend unemployment insurance.

But while Congress appeared to be heading once again toward gridlock, the House could be in a position to try to corner the Senate.

House leaders could be poised to hold a vote on the bill, as early as next week, and then send their members home for the holidays -- in turn forcing the Senate to decide between their bill and no bill. This would then force a confrontation between the Senate and the White House.

Terry said he thinks there's a "high" likelihood the House will try to stick the Senate with their version of the bill.

"Frankly, the fact that the president doesn't like it makes me like it even more," said Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, a leader of House conservatives, who added he had supported an earlier version, as well.

According to sources, the House bill's price tag clocks in at between $175 billion and $180 billion.

At its core, the emerging House bill would extend the existing Social Security payroll tax cut at the heart of Obama's jobs program, through 2012. It also would renew an expiring benefit program for the long-term unemployed the president also favors, although at a reduced level from current law.

In addition, Republicans are proposing to avert a 27 percent cut in payments to doctors serving Medicare patients, a provision that Democrats have said privately they are receptive to.

The emerging House bill also is expected to block implementation of a proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulation limiting toxic emissions from industrial incinerators, another potential area for dispute with the White House.

While there is general agreement among leaders of both parties that the legislation must be paid for to avoid raising deficits, there are differences over the details.

Democrats favor imposing a surtax on incomes over $1 million, hoping to depict Republicans -- nearly all of whom are opposed -- as protecting millionaires at the expense of the middle class.

House Republicans want to raise premium fees on the wealthy for Part B Medicare, a change that they note would fall on many of the same people the Democrats want to tax.

The House bill also would freeze pay for two additional years for federal retirees and increase their retirement costs.

Also in the measure is the repeal of nearly $43 billion already approved for the year-old health care law, which stands as Obama's signature domestic achievement.

There was no suspense in the Senate on Thursday, where blocking maneuvers left rival payroll tax plans short of the 60 votes needed to advance for the second consecutive week.

The vote on the Democrats' plan was 50-48, with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine the only Republican in favor. It would lower next year's payroll tax to 3.1 percent, financed mainly by the millionaire surtax.

The Republican measure was turned aside 22-76. A majority of Republicans opposed it, reflecting the party's internal divisions. That measure would leave next year's payroll tax at 4.2 percent, paid for largely by freezing salaries and cutting the size of the federal workforce.

Gibson, legenday guitar in the hands of legendary guitarists

2011-12-09T07:55:00.001-08:00

Photo exhibition “Gibson Through the Lens”, which opened in London, is a kind of product catalog company Gibson. All the guitarists whose photos can be found in this exhibition are united by one thing: the guitar. This is certainly Gibson. Dion DiMuchchi, composer, said: “Nothing could compare with Gibson. It was chic. Glitter”
This collection – six-string catalog of masterpieces, which are in the hands of the craftsmen can turn into a terrible weapon. With them as with a banner, you can lead people. And you can caress them as the love of life.

State Budgets Growing Despite Vows to Cut Spending

2011-12-09T07:52:00.001-08:00

Politicians tend to define spending cuts differently than everybody else.

For many people, a spending cut is when they look at their finances and, because there's less money coming in than last year, decide what they can do without. The result is less spending.

But to lawmakers, a spending cut is often a reduction to the amount of spending growth that had been anticipated. This mindset helps explain why in state governments across the country, budgets are increasing despite vows to cut spending.

Take Washington state. Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire recently called on the state legislature to approve a referendum asking voters to pass a half-cent increase to the sales tax -- in order to avoid $2 billion in new spending cuts.

Gregoire said the state had already cut $10.5 billion since the recession began in 2008. However, not only did state spending not go down by $10.5 billion -- it actually went up $2 billion.

"The amount of money that we spend is a little more," Gregoire's Budget Director Marty Brown conceded. "But it is nowhere near where our revenue projections would have been."

Brown argues it's legitimate to call reductions in projected spending growth cuts, because in many cases they're funds the state has promised to pay. He cited two voter initiatives that give teachers cost-of-living pay increases and reduce class size, which requires hiring more teachers. Because state tax revenue has not met projections, the legislature voted to not fund the initiatives.

Teachers, however, are still getting raises through collective bargaining contracts.

Paul Guppy, an analyst at the Washington Policy Center, said state tax revenue has increased even through the recession. "In the real world where we are, if I have more money to spend than last year, even if it's not as much as I wanted, that's an increase," says Guppy. "So state government has been having increases steadily, just not as high as legislators would like."

Washington state is far from alone. Overall spending by states is up 72 percent over the last 10 years, climbing each year through the recession. It's due in large part to the federal government which has run up huge deficits by increasing spending 93 percent over the decade. The stimulus spending has largely allowed the states to avoid real cuts.

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, total state expenditures hit a record $1.55 trillion in 2009 and were estimated to jump another 5 percent in 2010 to $1.62 trillion. Historically, state spending rises 6 percent a year.

Republicans say it's time to truly cut government spending. "They have to scare us into approving tax increases," said Washington State Republican Party Chairman Kirby Wilbur. "And they do it by saying 'we've cut to the bone.' They haven't. There's lots to cut, these people just believe in big government."

Some state cuts have been made, in particular to welfare programs which are more generous than comparable federal programs. Washington's Disability Lifeline program is one. Two years ago, people who said they could not work because of a disability were eligible to receive $339 per month from the state. Last year, that amount was cut to $197 per month. And in November, the program was cut altogether.

40-year old Maxxwell McGuire, who worked in telemarketing until he suffered a slipped disc 18 months ago, lost his only income. "Means that I can't get a bus pass to be able to travel to doctors," McGuire said. "I can't pay for rent or food."

McGuire, who walks with a cane, said he's been turned down twice for federal disability assistance through Social Security. He's living for free in transitional housing run by Catholic Social Services.

Fiscal conservatives say the only way to actually shrink government spending is to take away collective bargaining rights from state workers, make those government employees pay as much for their benefits as workers in the private sector and scale back programs that benefit all residents.

That effort, however, has been met with stiff resistance in other states like Wisconsin and Ohio.

James Byrne and his new finger

2011-12-09T07:50:00.001-08:00

This – James Byrne, a carpenter and as he once, during otchekryzhil his finger. The doctors tried to sew the first isolation, but then asked him to transplant his finger with his feet. James agreed, and now trains its new finger to learn how to operate them.

Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren red gold dream

2011-12-09T07:48:00.001-08:00

Swiss Ueli Anlicker entrepreneur decided to sell his gold Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Red Gold Dream for U.S. $ 11 million. Let me remind you that the finishing machine was used by 600 rubies and 24 carat gold. Kit by car from FAB Design and ASMA. In order to achieve a red car was covered with 25 layers of paint! Now under the hood with 700 hp, but the Swiss is planning to sell the car to pump up to

Meet the Supermommels: How Motherhood Can Boost a Supermodel's Career

2011-12-06T07:02:00.001-08:00

Not so long ago, having a baby marked the end of a high-end, pin-thin model’s professional career. But these days, it looks like mommyhood only adds value to one’s supermodel status.

Of the 10 beauties featured on Forbes’s Top Earning Models, seven are moms. Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Kate Moss, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio filled the top five spots respectively, and fellow mommies Carolyn Murphy and Natalia Vodianova weren’t too far behind when it came to bringing in the millions over 2011.

And when a record 10.3 million Americans tuned in to watch the annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show last week, it seemed improbably that several of the stretch-mark free Angels, one of the highest honors in the modeling industry, had young ones waiting for them in the wings.

Two of the Angels on the runway -- Miranda Kerr and Doutzen Kroes -- both gave birth this year.

So can going from supermodel to supermom-el actually boost a mannequin's career?

“Post-baby, not only is she gorgeous, but she’s a supermom who can do it all. A baby can also lend a model an air of seriousness and creditability,” Jamie Beckman, an editor for women's site SheKnows.com told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “In our celebrity driven culture, we’re fascinated by the mechanics of what it is like to be these women in real life, and that includes how they raise their children.”

It has even gotten to the point that models are walking the runway when they are obviously pregnant. Last year, Kerr walked for Balenciaga during Paris Fashion week while five months along, and posed for the cover of Australian Vogue at and nude for W magazine while almost ready to pop. Earlier this year, Melbourne Fashion Week in Australia went out of its way to hire a bevy of expectant model moms to roam the runway, and pregnant British beauty Jourdan Dunn walked the catwalk for Jean Paul Gaultier's Spring 2010 catwalk in Paris. Rather than concealing her burgeoning belly, the designer drew attention to her midsection by adorning her in stomach in matching circular banding to that of her silky brown cone bra.

“Motherhood makes these women, who many people know only from glossy ads or magazines, more accessible and real for the rest of the world. A baby is something everyone can relate to, and being relatable to the audience is a huge plus from marketing standpoints,” former model and writer Adriane Sommer explained. “Also, you can't underestimate the sympathy a pregnant star gets from female fans. Being pregnant is nearly as good for the image as wearing a halo for a celebrity. It is something sacred and it connects us all on the most intimate and universal levels."

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A number of past supermodels have been able to use their model/maternal label as a platform for other business, branding and philanthropic opportunities. Christy Turlington made her directorial debut this year with the documentary “No Woman, No Cry,” using her fame to bring to life the powerful stories of at-risk pregnant women around the world. Elle MacPherson hawks a lucrative maternity collection as part of her multi-million dollar “Elle MacPherson Intimates” empire. And Heidi Klum has designed her own exclusive maternity-wear collections for Pea in the Pod and Motherhood.

Klum does offer a word of caution to models who want a baby and a catwalk career, however.

"It’s all cute when you’re pregnant, but once you’ve had the baby, it's not so,” she said.

If these leggy ladies really want to make money marketing motherhood, Sommer has some more words of wisdom.

“I am still waiting to see the book "How I REALLY got my body back after pregnancy" on the shelves, instead of reading all those tales about ‘drinking lots of water and yoga’ that try to explain how a supermodel can strut her stuff on the runway a mere two or three months after giving birth as if nothing happened,” she said. “Water and yoga?! Come on.”

'Sex and the City' Creator Divorcing Ballet Dancer Husbands

2011-12-06T06:59:00.001-08:00

"Sex and the City" creator Candace Bushnell is divorcing her handsome ballet dancer husband Charles Askegard, alleging in court papers that he had an affair with ballerina Georgina Pazcoguin.

The feisty sex columnist and novelist who inspired Carrie Bradshaw took the dramatic step of naming beautiful "Nutcracker" ballerina Pazcoguin, who danced with Askegard for eight seasons in the New York City Ballet, as a co-respondent in her divorce proceedings.
Bushnell discovered Askegard's alleged affair with Pazcoguin after they agreed to separate, sources said.

"The divorce was proceeding amicably, then Candace found out about Georgina and became very upset. She believes their affair could have gone on for some time. Humiliated, it was her idea to take the unusual step of naming Georgina as a co-respondent in the divorce papers," one source said.

Bushnell, 53, is divorcing Askegard, who is 10 years her junior, after nine years.

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Askegard left the NYC Ballet after 24 years in October to set up his own company, Ballet Next.

Pazcoguin was a guest at his retirement party hosted by Bushnell on Oct. 9.

Weeks later, Askegard and Pazcoguin -- who became an apprentice with the NYC Ballet in 2002 and joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet in 2003 -- performed together at the Alzheimer's Association Rita Hayworth Gala.

Bushnell declined to comment Monday night. Askegard said, "I respectfully decline to comment further regarding this matter. Georgina has no comment at this time, either."

Clinton Says Egyptian Elections Must Not Set Back Democracy

2011-12-06T06:56:00.001-08:00

Issuing new warnings to two U.S. partners Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized Russia for a parliamentary election she said was rigged and said election gains by Islamist parties must not set back Egypt's push toward democracy after the fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak this year.
Issuing new warnings to two U.S. partners Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized Russia for a parliamentary election she said was rigged and said election gains by Islamist parties must not set back Egypt's push toward democracy after the fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak this year.

She acknowledged the success of Islamist parties in Egyptian parliamentary voting that the U.S. has praised as fair. But many of the winners are not friendly to the United States or U.S. ally Israel, and some secular political activists in Egypt are worried that their revolution is being hijacked. Islamist parties are among the better-known and better-organized in Egypt, and while they were expected to do well in last week's first round voting, a hardline bloc scored surprisingly large gains.

Clinton addressed head-on the fear that the hardliners will crimp human and women's rights.

"Transitions require fair and inclusive elections, but they also demand the embrace of democratic norms and rules," she said. "We expect all democratic actors to uphold universal human rights, including women's rights, to allow free religious practice."

Speaking to the election-monitoring Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Clinton repeated criticism of Russia's weekend elections, in which Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's party won the largest share of parliament seats.

Opposition politicians and election monitors say the result was inflated because of ballot-box stuffing and other vote fraud.

"Russian voters deserve a full investigation of electoral fraud and manipulation," Clinton said. Russia's top diplomat was present at the meeting in the Lithuanian capital, but the two did not plan to meet separately.

Clinton criticized human rights abuses in neighboring Belarus and planned to meet with activists from that country, often called the last dictatorship in Europe, later Tuesday.

In Egypt, the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood is in the lead so far, with about 37 percent of the vote, according to partial results released Sunday. But the hardline Al-Nour bloc grabbed nearly a quarter of the vote for the ultraconservative Salafis, who seek to impose strict Islamic law in Egypt.

The strong Islamist showing came at the expense of liberal activist groups that led the uprising against Mubarak, toppling a regime long seen as a secular bulwark in the Middle East.

The Salafis espouse a strict interpretation of Islam similar to that of Saudi Arabia, where the sexes are segregated and women must be veiled and are barred from driving. The Salafis speak openly about their aim of turning Egypt into a state where personal freedoms, including freedom of speech, women's dress and art, are constrained by Islamic law

Pakistani Star Veena Malik Suing Magazine for 'Nude' Cover Photo

2011-12-06T06:54:00.001-08:00

India and Pakistan are going nuclear over this magazine cover showing a naked Pakistani star wearing nothing but a provocative political tattoo.

Readers across the region dropped their jaws at the sight of actress Veena Malik on the cover of FHM India, flashing a smoldering gaze and the tattooed letters “ISI” — apparently in reference to Pakistan’s shadowy spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence.

The photo essay, in FHM’s December issue, was meant to satirize the tense relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

Conservatives in Pakistan have lambasted Malik’s spread, with one fundamentalist cleric saying it was a “shame for all Muslims.”

Even her dad, Malik Muhammad Aslam, took a shot at her, saying authorities should come down on the star for posing nude and bringing embarrassment to Pakistan.

“I have disowned her. I have severed all ties with her, and I don’t want her to have any share in whatever meager assets I have until she is cleared of the controversy and pledges not to visit India again,” her father told AFP.

And Malik herself is taking shots at the pictorial — or at least the magazine that published it.

She’s filed a $2 million lawsuit against FHM, insisting she posed topless but not nude, as the lad mag depicts.

FHM’s pictures feature Malik apparently in the buff, with only crossed legs and clever camera angles providing some modesty.

Her lawyer, Ayaz Bilawala, said Malik was wearing underwear.

“For all the images and photographs which were shot, our client had clothes on,” the suit claims.

FHM India editor Kabeer Sharma said the photos are authentic and claimed there’s video footage of the shoot to prove it.

Malik is no stranger to controversy. On “Big Boss,” India’s answer to the reality-TV show “Big Brother,” she appeared to get busy with an Indian actor.

But she has won fans among liberal and younger circles in Pakistan for speaking out against honor killings and sexual abuse.

Afghan Police Say 54 Killed in Two Separate, Rare Bombings on Shiites

2011-12-06T06:52:00.001-08:00

A suicide bomber struck a crowd of Shiite worshiping at a mosque in Kabul on Tuesday, killing at least 54 people in the deadliest of two attacks on a Shiite holy day -- the first major sectarian assaults since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago.

Four other Shiites were killed in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif when a bomb strapped to a bicycle exploded as a convoy of Afghan Shiites was driving down the road, shouting slogans for the festival known as Ashoura. Health Ministry spokesman Sakhi Kargar gave the death toll and said 21 people also were wounded in that attack.

The Kabul bomber blew himself up in the midst of a crowd of men, women and children gathered outside the Abul Fazl shrine to commemorate the seventh century death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein. Some men were beating themselves in mourning and food was being distributed.

The shrine, which is near the presidential palace, was packed with worshippers and dozens more were crammed into the courtyard. One witness said the bomber was at the end of a line and detonated his explosives near one of the gates to the shrine.

Sayed Kabir Amiri, who is in charge of Kabul hospitals said 54 were killed and more than 160 wounded in the blast. He said casualties were taken to several hospitals and the toll could rise.

Religiously motivated attacks on Shiites are rare in Afghanistan although they are common in neighboring Pakistan. No group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's blasts, reminiscent of the wave of sectarian attacks that shook Iraq during the height of the war there.

The Taliban strongly condemned the two attacks and said in a statement to news organizations that they deeply regretted that innocent Afghans were killed and wounded.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, speaking at a news conference after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, said the attack was unprecedented in scope.

He said it was "the first time that on such an important religious day in Afghanistan terrorism of that horrible nature is taking place."

Mohammad Bakir Shaikzada, the top Shiite cleric in Kabul, said he could not remember a similar attack having taken place on such a scale.

"This is a crime against Muslims during the holy day of Ashoura. We Muslims will never forget these attacks. It is the enemy of the Muslims who are carrying them out," he said, declining to place blame.

Shiites make up about 20 percent of Afghanistan's 30 million people, most of them ethnic Hazaras. Although thousands of Hazaras were massacred by the Taliban during fighting in the 1990s, Afghan insurgents -- nearly all of them Sunnis -- in recent years have focused their attacks primarily on U.S.-led NATO troops and Afghan security forces.

It was unclear whether Tuesday's attacks mark a change in Afghan Taliban strategy or were carried out by al-Qaida or another group based in Pakistan, where Sunni attacks on Shiites are common. Hard-line Sunnis consider Shiites nonbelievers because their customs and traditions differ from the majority sect.

The last incident of violence between Shiites and Sunnis following the U.S. invasion 10 years ago occurred in early 2006, during Ashoura commemorations in the western city of Herat. During those riots, blamed on Islamic extremists, five people were killed and more than 50 injured.

Mahood Khan, who is in charge of the Abul Fazl shrine, said the explosion occurred just outside a courtyard where dozens of worshippers were lined up as they filed in and out of the packed building.

A few minutes after the blast, bodies could be seen loaded into the trunks of cars while wounded were led away by friends and relatives. Survivors wept in the streets.

"It was a very powerful blast," Khan said. "The food was everywhere. It was out of control. Everyone was crying, shouting. It is a disaster."

Mustafa, a shopkeeper, said he and his mother were delivering food to the worshippers when the blast occurred. Two groups of 150 to 200 people from Kabul had just prayed at the shrine and left.

Another group of more than 100 from Logar province was entering when the explosion occurred.

He said the suicide bomber was at the end of the line of worshippers from Logar when he blew himself up near one of the gates to the shrine.

"It was very loud. My ears went deaf and I was blown 3 meters," said Mustafa, who uses only one name. "There was smoke and red blood on the floor of the shrine. There were people lying everywhere."

The shrine's loudspeaker continued to blast a recitation of the Quran as ambulances carried bodies and wounded away. Women stood outside the shrine wailing and holding crying children.

The shrine is close to the palace where Karzai lives and who is in Europe to attend an international conference on Afghanistan. It is named after Abul Fazl, who was an adviser to a 14th century Mogul emperor. The shrine and its blue minaret is one of Kabul's better known shrines.

It is located in Murad Khane area near the Kabul river, a district that has been listed by the World Monuments Fund as one of its 100 most endangered sites of cultural heritage.

Beautiful Asian girl - Part 1

2011-12-05T08:03:00.001-08:00

Britney Spears' Most Defining Moment?

2011-12-05T08:01:00.001-08:00

Believe it or not, little Britney Jean Spears turned 30 years old on December 2.

Yup ... it's been almost 13 years since she redefined the school uniform with her sexy schoolgirl video for "...Baby One More Time" in 1999.

A year later, Britney famously shed her good-girl image (did she ever really have one?) when she stripped down to a nude body stocking at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. She topped that by kissing Madonna, marrying her childhood friend Jason Alexander for 55 hours (no, not the guy from "Seinfeld") and marrying Kevin Federline a few months later.

But following her split from K-Fed in late 2006, Britney spent time in rehab, shaved her head and attacked a photographer's car with an umbrella -- pretty much hitting rock bottom.

Now, after a rocky few years, the former Mouseketeer is back on track as she enters her thirties. She has a boyfriend -- former agent Jason Trawick (they're rumored to be talking marriage and babies) -- a new #1 album, "Femme Fatale" and she won two VMAs over the summer.

From "...Baby One More Time" to that unfortunate umbrella incident, let us know: What is Britney's most defining moment?

Sex Just Gets Better With Age

2011-12-05T07:41:00.001-08:00

So many things affect our sex lives, and getting older is definitely one of them.

As much as we might not want to talk about it, it’s true. Menopause, which the National Institute on Aging says generally comes on around age 51, gets a lot of bad press when it comes to causing problems with our sex lives as we age.

But, contrary to popular belief, menopause is not the real culprit. It's actually perimenopause, the two to 10 years prior to menopause that causes women the most trouble, explains Evelyn Resh, a certified, practicing nurse-midwife and author of the upcoming book, “Women, Sex, Power, and Pleasure: How Living a Pleasurable and Powerful Life Will Give You More of the Sex You Want.”

Medically, menopause is defined as when a woman goes 12 consecutive months without having her period.

But the time leading up to that often brings the most common sexual side effects, including hot flashes, worsening PMS or the onset of PMS, noticeably increased dryness, painful intercourse, sleep disturbances, night sweats, and more noticeable mid-section body fat. It’s easy to imagine that a woman wouldn’t feel very sexy when she’s exhausted, overheated, grumpy, unhappy with her body, depressed, physically uncomfortable, and so on.

"Not all women notice symptoms of forthcoming menopause,” Resh says. “Some women just wake up and realize they haven't had a period in months and have never been bothered by anything. Other women are plagued with symptoms.”

When it comes to perimenopause and menopause, a woman will likely follow in her mother’s footsteps.
So, how does menopause affect woman sexually?

"Tricky question," Resh says. "Some women say that their sexual desire goes out the window. Others tell me that they've never felt sexier, and are especially relieved that they don't have to worry about pregnancy anymore. I think this has much to do with your overall feelings about getting older and what your relationship with your body is. If you're in good health and have a good partnership(s), then there's nothing about menopause, per se, that will alter your sexuality."

Biologically, it’s decreased estrogen that is the primary cause of the physical changes women do experience.

“Estrogen is an escort for central nervous stimulation and often women experience decreased sensation and changes in orgasm,” Resh explains. “I always recommend that women use a vibrator (which helps) maintain their orgasmic function/sensation.”

Resh says to remember that this is in no way related to how one feels about one’s partner and, instead, is all about adapting to what she calls “new normals."

What Can Help
The good news is that there are ways to combat the sexual side effects of menopause.

"Plenty of exercise, especially aerobic; eating well; paying attention to sleep habits and not falling too far behind in sleep; and using hormone therapy,” Resh adds. “If people aren't sleeping, they get depressed and this starts a terrible cascade of problems that could otherwise be avoided. Hormones aren't necessarily bad. They just need to be used wisely and aren't for everyone."

A water-soluble or silicone-based lubricant, as well as vaginal estrogen preparations can also be really helpful in terms of combating dryness and painful intercourse.

Naturally, when a woman is going through menopause, her sexual partner - be it male or female - will be affected as well.

But there are things they can do to ease the way. They "need to understand what is actually happening in perimenopause. The more informed they are, the better they can accommodate the new normals. Be patient, stay informed and remember that intercourse isn't the only way to be sexually stimulated or satisfied,” Resh explains.

The key to not letting perimenopause or menopause put the kabash on one’s sex life is to realign our thinking in terms of what’s “normal.” We’re an ageist society and the “sexy senior” is simply not a part of our culture.

And this, Resh says, is at the core of the problem.

"This sort of internalized hatred is terrible for women as they grow older. We also expect that we will be the same sexual person at 60 as we were at 35. This doesn't make sense. We have to adapt to our aging bodies and understand that nothing - including our sexual desires and pleasures - stays the same.”

And, Resh says, the only thing wrong with that fact is ignoring it.

Jenny Block is a freelance writer based in Dallas, Texas. She is the author of "Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage." Her work also appears in "One Big Happy Family" edited by Rebecca Walker and "It’s a Girl: Women Writers on Raising Daughters" edited by Andrea Buchanan. Visit her Web site at