Smilikiti

“Mike Connell set-up the alternate email and communications system for the White House. He was responsible for creating the system that hosted the infamous GWB43.com accounts that Karl Rove and others used. When asked by Congress to provide these emails, the White House said that they were destroyed. But in reality, what Connell is alleged to have done is move these files to other servers after having allegedly scrubbed the files from all “known” Karl Rove accounts.

In addition, I have reason to believe that the alternate accounts were used to communicate with US Attorneys involved in political prosecutions, like that of Don Siegelman. This is what I have been working on to prove for over a year. In fact, it was through following the Siegelman-Rove trail that I found evidence leading to Connell. That is how I became aware of him. Mike was getting ready to talk. He was frightened.”
Graham writes: “Unfortunately, he won’t get to talk. He died in a plane crash yesterday.”

UPDATE: A curious press release: “Bush Insider Who Planned To Tell All Killed In Plane Crash: Non-Profit Demands Full Federal Investigation” (Thanks, Adam!)

(Via Why, That’s Delightful)

Aside from whether or not you think it’s an insult to entertain a notorious bigot at the television event of the year, why isn’t Obama worrying more about Warren’s charlatan-tastic profile?

If I was an underwriter, I’d say this guy has all the “tells” of a big risk.
Deja vu: major Fundie evangelist can’t stop talking about how disgusting gay people are, comparing them to incestors and pedophiles. Decries loose women having abortions. Demands his enemies be offed. Then caps it all off with how much he “loves” everybody. Send your check now!

Warren has all the earmarks we saw with Ted Haggard, Larry Craig, Bob Allen, David “DiaperPants” Vitter, et al. It’s a bad rerun.

If this dude isn’t found in a bathroom with a wide stance and a hooker in the next year, someone’s not doing their job. Paging Jeff Gannon!

I have a different pastor for Obama to consider, if he’d  like to take a second look…

(Photo: Screen capture from video of a Saddleback church service Orange County Register)

Here’s a video of Obama defending his invitation.

Here’s a video of Rick Warren Campaigning for Prop 8, to stop gay marriage.

• Hugh Jackman is one slick Rick! — JustJared
• Madonna’s former LA home is on the market — CasaSugar
• Hilary and Mike shop for shoes in love — Pink Is the New Blog
• Shannen Doherty steps out with her man — D-Listed
• Get ready for 2009 with Gemma Atkinson’s bikini calendar — Egotastic
• Shemar Moore wants Jennifer Aniston — Lainey Gossip
• Brooke Hogan has no need for shirts — Hollywood Rag
• Sharon Stone carries on by lunching — IDLYITW
• Cynthia Nixon gets political — cityrag
• Did Kendra leave Hugh for Joe Francis? — Holy Taco
• Jessica Simpson to be honored for her style — Celeb*tchy
• Emma Watson does Chanel — I’m Not Obsessed
• David Spade talks dating — MollyGood
• Jessica and Hayden advertise The Muzzler — Hollywood Tuna

• The much-anticipated Vice Presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden takes place tonight, check out a preview of what’s to come. — CitizenSugar
• Melissa Etheridge is planning to wed her longtime partner and fellow mother of their four children, Tammy Lynn Michaels. The couple exchanged vows in 2003 and would like to make it official. — Extra
• David Archuleta is making his acting debut as a guest star on Nickelodeon’s iCarly, playing a contestant in a talent competition. Filming begins today. — Us Weekly
• Rosie O’Donnell will return to television as the host of “Rosie’s Variety Show” on NBC in an episode aired live the night before Thanksgiving, with the possibility of it turning into a full series. — Hollywood Reporter
• Sandra Bernhard was cut from a charity benefit because of inappropriate remarks she made about Sarah Palin at her one-man show in Washington last month. — AP
• ANTM’s Bianca Golden went on The Tyra Banks Show yesterday to talk about being attacked by Nicky Blonsky and her family in the Turks and Caicos airport in July. — Us Weekly

Matt Damon stopped by the Clinton Global Initiative in NYC on Friday to talk about H2O Africa, his clean water project. He was there as part of his commitment to the Global Water Challenge, which helps provide sanitary and clean drinking water to the world’s poorest populations. The cause has been close to Matt’s big heart for years and now his charity work is more important to him than ever. After his big day, hopefully he found somewhere to sit back, relax, loosen up his tie and watch the debate.
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Most Asian markets bounced back Wednesday on hopes that a $700 billion bailout for the U.S. financial system will soon win legislative approval, although doubts persisted about the outlook for the global economy.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, the benchmark for Asia’s biggest bourse, gained 108.40 points, or 1 percent, to close at 11,368.26. On Tuesday, it plunged 4.1 percent to its lowest in more than three years on disappointment that the U.S. House of Representatives had rejected the bank rescue package.

Australian stocks rallied, with the benchmark S&P/ASX-200 index jumping 4.2 percent after sinking 4.3 percent Tuesday. Markets in Taiwan and India also gained.

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Richards’ Auction Gallery had one interesting item up for sale this week just in time for Halloween: A real human skeleton.

The bones, wired together to keep them in place, were sold for $500 Tuesday. The winner bidder agreed to donate the skeleton to a forensics center for research.

Auctioneer Tim Richards found the skeleton among furniture and boxed items he collected from New Castle for the auction. The bones had apparently been someone’s macabre decoration.

“‘You won’t believe what I found,’” Anita Mattingly, his fiancee, said he told her.

Tipton County Coroner Bob Nichols, after discussing the find with Richards, contacted University of Indianapolis forensic anthropologist Andrea Simmons, who examined the remains Friday.

Simmons concluded the skeleton was that of a European man who was between 5-foot-3 and 5-foot-5. Simmons told Mattingly the man died sometime before World War I and was not murdered.

Simmons suggested that the skeleton be donated to research instead of being used for a Halloween prop, but Richards already had advertised that it would be sold.

Jane Harper then made the purchase and donated it to the forensics laboratory at the University of Indianapolis.

“I just felt very strongly this person needed to be in a final resting place,” Harper said.

A police officer didn’t think much of a call to shoo off a bothersome “kitty cat” at a home in Casper, Wyo. A tranquilized mountain lion lies in a transportation wagon at Casper’s Wyoming Game and Fish Department office after being captured in the backyard of a home near downtown Casper, Wy. on Monday, Sept. 29, 2008

The Louisiana Superdome will be ready for some football Sunday, and the Saints say they’re looking forward to celebrating the end of a stressful week with their storm-weary fans.

Forced to flee to Indianapolis ahead of Hurricane Gustav, the Saints will be able to open their regular season at home as scheduled against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team announced Tuesday.

“We will once again showcase to a national audience that the city of New Orleans is made up of resilient people and that we are ready to stand our city back up as quickly as possible, put this storm behind us and move on with our lives,” Saints owner Tom Benson said.

The Saints had announced Monday night, soon after Gustav had passed over the city, that their hope was to keep their season-opening home date as a means to uplift the spirits of a fan base that had been ridden with anxiety that all the rebuilding done in the three years since Hurricane Katrina could be wiped out.

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Sabathia pitched a one-hitter in his latest dominating start, allowing the Pirates only an infield single by Andy LaRoche in the fifth inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat Pittsburgh 7-0 Sunday for their eighth victory in nine games.

Sabathia (9-0) pitched the majors’ fourth one-hitter this season and couldn’t have come much closer to a no-hitter, with no Pirates batter except for LaRoche coming close to a hit.

The Pirates were held to four fly ball outs and had only several hard-hit balls during their 10th consecutive loss, with LaRoche’s single rolling about 45 feet between the plate and the mound before Sabathia picked it up, only to drop it. The ball may have been hit too softly for Sabathia to get LaRoche at first, even if he had made the play cleanly. LaRoche had only one hit in his previous 32 at-bats.

Sabathia, 3-0 in five career starts against the Pirates, struck out 11 and walked three and faced only 29 batters, two above the minimum. He threw 79 of his 117 pitches for strikes.

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As if trying to remind himself and everyone else where he’s been and where he’s quite certain he’ll return, Roger Federer thrust his right fist overhead and pointed skyward with his index finger.

The universal gesture for No. 1.

As Federer made that signal, the 1970s song “Still the One” by Orleans rang out through Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday, marking the end of the four-time defending champion’s 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 victory over 28th-seeded Radek Stepanek in the U.S. Open’s third round.

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MILAN, Italy (AFP) - Jose Mourinho said he has not yet imposed his style on Inter Milan despite making a winning competitive debut on the Serie A champions’ bench on Sunday by beating AS Roma on penalties in the Italian Super Cup.

The Portuguese coach was not happy at the way Inter twice surrendered the lead at their San Siro home before clinching the season’s curtain raiser 6-5 in a shoot-out with the scores locked 2-2 at the end of extra time.

“No (this is not yet my Inter), my Inter finishes the match at the right time, they win 2-0 and not by a narrow margin,” Mourinho told reporters.

Inter captain Javier Zanetti scored the decisive spot-kick after Roma’s Mirko Vucinic and Daniele De Rossi had cancelled out goals by 18-year-old striker Mario Balotelli and new midfield signing Sulley Muntari in regulation time.

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The grand opening of Lucas Oil Stadium turned into a big dud for the Indianapolis Colts Sunday night. At least, they’ll have another chance to christen their new stadium properly in two weeks when the games really count.

Xavier Omon scored on a short touchdown run, Terrence McGee returned a Colts fumble 68 yards for a touchdown and the Buffalo Bills forced five turnovers in a 20-7 victory over the Colts.

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AP - The U.S. men’s volleyball team won the Olympic gold medal Sunday, defeating defending champion Brazil to complete a perfect run through a tournament shadowed by a grisly attack at a Beijing tourist site.

I’ve been watching the steady decline of journalism since the Internet began replacing print and television as the main provider of news, with a seething disgust.

Today’s CNN top story put me over the edge.

Here’s the title and article summary for those of you without images in their feed readers:

6-year-olds forced into sex for food, group finds

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A few hours ago, my wife and I welcomed a new beautiful baby boy into the world. He’s 7 lb 12 oz with a full head of curly blonde hair and blue eyes (subject to change). His feathers haven’t grown in yet.

I’ll get some pics up as soon as I get a spare second. Please forgive any lack of responsiveness on my part over the next few days as we get mommy and baby settled in.

Any name suggestions?

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora injured his left knee in the second quarter of the New York Giants’ preseason game against the New York Jets, but coach Tom Coughlin said that early indications are that he did not suffer ligament damage.

X-rays taken during the Jets’ 10-7 win were negative. An MRI is planned on Sunday.

“I talked to him when he was in the locker room, in the training room,” fellow defensive end Justin Tuck said of a halftime exchange. “Obviously, he was down. It’s unfortunate when any injury occurs, but hopefully, it is nothing serious and he will not miss any time.”

Umenyiora left the locker room before the game ended and was not available for comment.

Umenyiora told Tuck that “he was good,” Tuck said.

The two-time Pro Bowler was hurt with 10:48 left in the half on a third-down incomplete pass by the Jets’ Brett Favre.

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BEIJING - Samuel Wanjiru already had made a name for himself in the heady world of Kenyan distance running. Now he stands alone.

He pulled away over the final few miles Sunday to become the first Kenyan to win an Olympic marathon — and he did it faster than anyone ever has.

Wanjiru negotiated the 26.2-mile course through the Beijing streets in bright morning sunshine in an Olympic record of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 32 seconds.

“In Kenya we have many medals,” Wanjiru said, “but I’m glad I have this one.”

His name was listed on the official results sheet as Wansiru, but the Kenyan said that spelling was incorrect.

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We’re finally starting to pick our heads up and prepare to emerge from private beta with new applications, a new polished site with some incredible innovations and completion of our first dedicated Aviary tutorial book, by our very own Meowza! But in the mean time, some quick news updates:

Welcome to our newest staff members Amiee Jacobsen and Mo Boehm!

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Aviary is excited to announce the launch of its newest application, Dodo, the web-based time machine.

We’ve been working feverishly around the clock on this new tool which will allow you to age and de-age people, places and things from any browser with Flash 9 enabled.

Here’s a video of Dodo in action:
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