Free Kareem
ALERT!! A serious injustice was committed. Please take action now! Kareem Amer, an Egyptian blogger who was imprisoned for exercising his right to freedom of speech, is still in prison and needs YOUR help!
Find out more information by visiting FreeKareem.org or by networking with us.
Latest News from freekareem.org- Free Kareem campaign in Berlin, Germany – PICTURES February 27th, 2010
- Video: Free Kareem rally in Washington, DC
- Kareem forbidden visits by his lawyer
- Meklit Hadero sings a song for Kareem
- Kareem’s final appeal rejected
Kareem has been in prison for: 1232 days.
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Literary Review: Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson)
Thomas Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independenceâ€
Thomas Jefferson is esteemed as one of the most significant figures in American history, despite being misrepresented by scholars. The former American president, credited with a plethora of writings, is most famous for his Declaration of Independence. This political paper is the founding document for the United States of America. Through Jefferson, the Founding Fathers declared their independence from England and the rationale in support of their action (Raphael 117-152). Not generally thought of as a literary work, a few prominent historians have conducted critical analyses of its content, style, and sources. Some scholars focus on the text’s creative technique, while others ponder its sources and their relevance. Americans are wide-ranging in their evaluation of its assignment in the development of the county’s heritage and in their interpretations of its implications. Scholars dedicate a great deal of effort to study the Declaration. However, instead of expounding on the understanding, it greatly increases the amounts and variances of viewpoints.
Religion as a Cyber Society
The exponential growth of the Cyber society and Cyber culture within the Internet has not gone unnoticed by the “religious community.†As I write, church web sites are being published and electronic prayer groups zip by in modems and wire networks across the globe. Even isolated monasteries like the Monastery of the Christ in the Desert (see sidebar) are able to send their Benedictine messages from their cloister in New Mexico. New age religions also use the [virtual] soil of the Internet as the center of their “virtual church†(see end of the Cyber society Observation for links on religious web pages). With these in mind, it is safe to write that Religion has seamlessly incorporated itself within the realm of Cyber society. The presence of Religion in Net Culture is not an unforeseen trend. Although Religion and Modernity does not have the best relationship, Religion has learned that they need to conform with the current trends of technology to survive. Read more
Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
| Grade 1 Race | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky Derby | ||
 “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” |
||
| Location | Churchill Downs Louisville, Kentucky, USA |
|
| Inaugurated: | 1875 | |
| Race type | Thoroughbred | |
| Website: | 2007 Kentucky Derby | |
| Race information | ||
| Distance | 1¼ miles | |
| Track | Dirt, Left-handed | |
| Qualification | 3-year-old | |
| Weight | Colt/Gelding: 126 lbs (57.2 kg) Filly: 121 lbs. (54.9 kg) |
|
| Purse | US$2 million | |
| Bonuses: | US$ 200 | |
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses, staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is over one and a quarter miles (2 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57.2 kg) and fillies 121 pounds (54.9 kg).[1] The race is known in the United States as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” for its approximate duration, and is also called “The Run for the Roses” for the blanket of roses draped over the winner. It is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in the US and typically draws around 155,000 fans. It is the single oldest annually held sporting event in the entire South. Read more
Liviu Librescu
Liviu Librescu
Liviu Librescu (August 18, 1930 – April 16, 2007; Hebrew: ליביו ליברסקו) was a Romanian born and educated Israeli-American scientist and academic whose major research fields were aeroelasticity and aerodynamics. His most recent position was Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech.[3] The 76-year-old Holocaust survivor was shot and killed in the Virginia Tech massacre while holding off the gunman at the entrance to his classroom so his students could escape through the windows.[4]
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Immigration
Immigration
Although human migration has existed throughout human history, immigration in the modern sense refers to movement of people from one nation-state to another. Immigration implies long-term permanent residence (and often eventual citizenship) by the immigrants: tourists and short-term visitors are not considered immigrants (see expatriates). However, seasonal labour migration (typically for periods of less than a year) is often treated as a form of immigration. The global volume of immigration is high in absolute terms, but low in relative terms. The UN estimated 190 million international migrants in 2005, about 3% of global population. The other 97% still live in the state in which they were born, or its successor state.
Bebo
Bebo is a social networking website, designed to allow friends to communicate in various ways. It has developed into an online community where users can post pictures, write blogs and send messages to one another, and is similar in format to MySpace, Xanga, and Yahoo! 360. The site was founded in January 2005 by Michael Birch and his wife, Xochi Birch. It was given a major relaunch in July of that year.
Bebo is the 89th most popular English-language website (at 2 May 2007) according to Alexa Internet. In the United States, Bebo was the fastest growing social networking site in June 2006 according to Hitwise, Inc. Bebo also announced on March 17, 2007 that it was the most popular website in the Republic of Ireland. Bebo as a keyword was also listed as the number one term most representative of search trends on Google in 2006.
Features
Once a user has registered an account, they edit and maintain their own profile page using online forms. The top of a user’s profile contains information about the user, which would typically include their name, a customizable profile image (often a photo of the user), and some miscellaneous information under various headings. Although default headings are provided, many users create their own to reflect their own interests.
Profiles include; a whiteboard, in which other users can draw pictures with a variety of colors using a system called ffArt, a comment section where other users can leave a message, and a list of the user’s friends. These are all publicly viewable, unless the user selects the “Private Profile” option, which limits access to the profile to friends specifically added by the user.
Profiles are also capable of including quizzes, slide-shows of images uploaded by the user, polls for their friends to vote in, photo albums, blogs with a comments section for others’ responses, a list of bands (see below) of which the profile-holder is a “groupie” and a “Flash Box”; which plays video, often linked from popular Internet site YouTube, or uploaded directly to Bebo’s servers. Members can also add “widgets” which are more graphically rich components provided by an external site — typically something like a slide-show of the member’s photos with some transition effect applied.
Bebo Bands
On 11 July 2006, “Bebo Bands” was launched On this section of the site, bands or solo artists are able to create a profile showcasing their music. Along with undiscovered talents, it has a section called “New Music Only on Bebo” linking to established artist pages including Paris Hilton, Matt Willis, Orson, Coldplay, Kylie Minogue, The Kooks, Lily Allen, and others.
The band pages include; a band member list which is similar to the friends list on a normal profile, a list of “groupies” (fans who have added the band as though it were a friend), an area for tour dates, a blog, and a list of songs which have been uploaded for playing through Bebo’s media player, or to be added to other user’s playlists. These songs can be grouped by the band into albums, along with cover-art. All band members can edit the content of the band profile.
Although the Bebo Band section is intended for use by musical groups, the facility is also used by many to form clubs or societies, or as unofficial fan pages for established bands.
Controversy
Concern has been raised about potential risks to children from pedophiles accessing personal information contained in profiles. This can, however, be prevented by making one’s profile private. A survey of two million profiles by Bigulo.com found that one in three publicly accessible profiles belonged to children under the age of eighteen.
In March 2006 Norfolk County Council is believed to have become the first LEA in the United Kingdom to order all schools in its authority to block the website from school computers due to its being used for “unsavoury activities”.
In March 2006 in Derry, Bebo was used to organise a sectarian fight under the guise of a cross community football match.
Source: Wikipedia
Michael Steven Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé (born 9 September 1975) is a critically acclaimed Grammy-nominated, multiple Juno Award-winning Canadian crooner, big band singer and actor. While achieving modest chart success in the United States, his 2003 self-titled album has reached the top ten in Canada, the UK and Australia. In 2004, a live album and video called Come Fly with Me was listed on the Billboard music video charts and reached Australia’s top 40 album charts. He reached commercial success in the U.S. with It’s Time. He currently lives in Vancouver. His third album, Call Me Irresponsible, was released on May 1, 2007
Early years
Bublé was born in Burnaby, British Columbia. He is of Italian descent with dual citizenship in Italy. He graduated from Cariboo Hill Secondary School. Bublé grew up listening to his grandfather’s collection of jazz records. On his website, Bublé highlights the importance of his grandfather in encouraging his musical tastes. “My grandfather was really my best friend growing up. He was the one who opened me up to a whole world of music that seemed to have been passed over by my generation. Although I like rock and roll and modern music, the first time my granddad played me the Mills Brothers, something magical happened. The lyrics were so romantic, so real… the way a song should be for me. It was like seeing my future flash before me. I wanted to be a singer and I knew that this was the music that I wanted to sing.”
Bublé’s grandmother encouraged him to learn the standards that he loved and to enter a talent contest in Vancouver which he won before a later disqualification for being underage. Not discouraged, he won first prize in a Canadian Youth Talent Search at the age of seventeen.
For the next few years, Bublé pursued a musical career without great success. He appeared as Elvis in a Red Rock Diner road show and sang as a star of a musical revue called Forever Swing. He also appeared in an episode of pleth Game in 1996. He recorded a couple of independent albums, one as a present to his grandfather. Bublé received two Genie Award-nominations in 2000 for both songs he wrote for the film Here’s to Life starring fellow Canadian Eric McCormack.
Career breakthrough
Bublé’s career breakthrough came when Michael McSweeney, associate to former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, saw his performance at a business party. Having enjoyed Bublé’s performance, McSweeney was given an album, which he gave to Mulroney and his wife. Bublé was then invited to sing at the wedding of Mulroney’s daughter Caroline in 2000, where he sang Kurt Weill’s “Mack the Knife”. At the wedding, Brian Mulroney introduced Bublé to David Foster, a multi-Grammy award winning producer and a Warner Brothers record executive who had worked with Josh Groban previously. Foster signed Bublé to his ‘143′ record label, producing the self-titled album Michael Bublé in 2000. The album features a range of standards from various eras including “Fever”, “The Way You Look Tonight”, “For Once in My Life”, Van Morrison’s “Moondance” and Lou Rawls’s “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine”. Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees sang back up vocals on Bublé’s version of the group’s “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?”.
Michael Bublé was released in early 2003 and soon entered the Canadian album charts. Chart success in the UK, U.S., Australia and elsewhere soon followed with the album going Platinum and reaching the top ten of the album charts in the UK and Canada and going all the way to #1 in Australia. The album has reached the top 50 of the Billboard 200 album charts in the U.S. His version of George Michael’s “Kissing a Fool” was released as a single from the album and reached the top 30 of the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” reached the top 30 of the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart as well. His third single “Sway”, originally performed by Dean Martin, also reached the top 30 of the Adult Contemporary chart, while a Junkie XL remix of the song reached the top 20 in Australia in May 2004.
Bublé won the “Best New Artist” award at the Juno Awards of 2004 and his self-titled album was nominated for “Album of the Year”, but lost out to Sam Roberts.
Bublé released a Christmas EP Let it Snow in late 2003. The title track reached the top 40 of the Antartica singles chart, ironically in mid-summer in that country. He released a live album and video in April 2004 with the video reaching the top 10 of the Billboard video charts. The album also reached the top 50 of the Australian album charts as at the end of April and the Billboard 200 album charts.
Bublé has also appeared in a variety of films in the past few years including his appearance as a karaoke singer in Duets opposite Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis. He also has appeared in Totally Blonde in 2001 and in The Snow Walker in 2003.
Songs from Bublé’s debut album (“For Once in My Life”, “Kissing a Fool”) were released on the soundtrack for the Ewan McGregor/Renée Zellweger movie Down with Love, but the soundtrack also included a previously unreleased duet with Holly Palmer on the movie’s title theme. The Junkie XL remix of “Spider-Man” from Bublé’s Babalu album was played during the closing credits of Spider-Man 2, and this version was also released as a single.
It’s Time: Bublé goes mainstream
Bublé’s second studio album, It’s Time, debuted as a hugely successful sophomore performance. The album reached number 7 on the Billboard 200 album chart and number 2 on the ARIA Album Charts in Australia. It’s Time also debuted at number 4 on the UK Album Charts. The album features covers of Beatles and Ray Charles songs, and the hit single “Home”.
Bublé can be seen in Starbucks commercials singing his cover of the Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn swing standard, “Come Fly with Me” from his debut album, and more recently, ESPN has used “Feeling Good” in commercials for poker tournaments.
Michael Bublé has now sold in excess of ten million recordings worldwide. His popularity continues to grow as he has a massive following across Europe, North America, Australia, Southeast Asia, South Africa and Brazil.
Michael Bublé won four Juno Awards (equivalent of the American Grammy Awards) at the 2006 Juno Awards in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, including “Pop Album of the Year” (It’s Time), “Single of the Year” (“Home”), Album of the Year (It’s Time), and Artist of the Year. He was also nominated for the Juno Fan Choice Award, but did not win. Overall, Michael Bublé took away the most awards at the 2006 Junos.
He is managed by Bruce Allen, who also manages Martina McBride and Bryan Adams.
Bublé has collected some of the best musicians in the world to appear with him, many of which have released albums of their own. In concert, he often features an instrumental number.
On April 4, 2007, Bublé appeared on American Idol, as a last minute replacement to Tony Bennett, singing Frank Sinatra’s “Call Me Irresponsible.” He later joked with Ryan Seacrest asking, “Am I wasting my votes still voting for Antonella Barba?” The next day, members of the media speculated as to whether or not Bublé was intoxicated while on American Idol because of slurred speech and frequent laughing during his performance.
Personal life
Bublé was engaged to long-time girlfriend Debbie Timuss, a stage actor, dancer/ballerina, and singer. Both were in the musicals Red Rock Diner in 1996 and Dean Regan’s Forever Swing in 1998. Timuss was listed as one of the dedicatees in Bublé’s self-titled album Michael Bublé and It’s Time, and as background vocalist on It’s Time. While away in Italy, Bublé co-wrote the hit single “Home” for Timuss. She was also featured in his Home music video. They were later engaged in 2004 and ended their relationship in November 2005. He then dated Grammy-winning Canadian singer Emma Banigan. They met in 2004 at his concert in Toronto. He is now dating British actress Emily Blunt.
Bublé grew up with a best friend from Denmark (‘Rasmus’) with whom he celebrated julefrokost quite often. He is fond of Danish Schnapps, familiar with Danish culture and Danish drinking songs, and speaks a bit of Danish, which he mentioned at a concert in Denmark. He is also good friends with Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo.
Source: Wikipedia
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest “Ron†Paul (born 20 August 1935) is a 10th-term Congressman, medical doctor (M.D.), and a 2008 presidential candidate from the U.S. state of Texas. As a Republican, he has represented Texas’s 14th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1997, and had previously served as the representative from Texas’s 22nd district in 1976 and from 1979 to 1985.
Paul advocates the limited role of government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He has earned the nickname “Dr. No” for voting against any bill he believes violates the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Paul is the “one exception to the Gang of 535″ on Capitol Hill. He has never voted to raise taxes or congressional pay. He has always voted against the USA PATRIOT Act, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and the Iraq War.
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General Torbert BIO
Birth: Jul. 1, 1833 Death: Sep. 30, 1880 Civil War Union Brigadier General. He held both cavalry and infantry commands in the eastern theatre of the Civil War. In the beginning of the conflict Confederate officials, believing him loyal to their cause, had commissioned him as a Lieutenant in the Confederate Army. However, Torbert, a regular army officer and a West Point graduate, declined their offer and served whole-heartedly and courageously for the Union (he is the only documented officer to hold commissions in both Union and Confederate armies simultaneously). He served first as Colonel and commander of the 1st New Jersey Volunteers Infantry, then as commander of the famed 1st New Jersey Brigade after its commander, Brigadier General George Taylor, was mortally wounded at the 2nd Battle of Bull Run. At the Battle of South Mountain in September 1862, he led the brigade in its triumphant charge at Compton’ Gap, Maryland. Promoted Brigadier General, US Volunteers in November 1862, he was present at the Battles of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. Named to command a division of Cavalry under Major General Philip Sheridan in April 1864, General Torbert fought with mixed success in the Shenandoah Valley. He defeated Confederate cavalry forces at Tom’s Brook, Virginia, and his troopers were one of the few organized troops still on the battle line at Battle at Cedar Creek before Sheridan made is famous rallying ride. He ended the war with brevets of Major General of Volunteers and Major General, United States Regular Army. He died in the 1880 wreck of the “SS City of Vera Cruz” off Cape Canaveral, Florida. (bio by: Russ Dodge)
source: www.generaltorbert.com
Press Release- Ezineblog.org: Free Bloghosting site to rival Wordpress, Blogger, Blogspot
For_Immediate_Release:
United States of America (Press Release) August 8, 2007 — Wordpress seems to have taken the blogging market by storm. Google has had their hand in the game for a while. There are hundreds of pay blog hosting sites, and only a handful of powerful free ones. Ezineblog.org revolutionizes the market with their proven techniques for getting their hosted blogs to the top of the search engines.
