Monster Hospital.

x-posted to several Avatar comms, sorry for the spam!

The poll results are in for the final Seiyuu of the Month poll of 2009. Hard to believe we're already so close to the end of the year. Sorry it's a bit late. I meant to have it done two days ago.

Winners:
Dansei = Yusa Koji with six votes.
Suzumura Kenichi and Takahashi Hiroki tie second with four votes each.

Josei = Tanaka Rie with seven votes.
Inoue Marina was a distant second place with three votes.

Past Winners:
May 2009 = Nakamura Yuichi & Sakamoto Maaya.
June 2009 = Ishida Akira & Saiga Mitsuki.
July 2009 = Sakurai Takahiro & Paku Romi.
August 2009 = Inoue Kazuhiko & Hayashibara Megumi.
September 2009 = Kamiya Hiroshi & Minagawa Junko.
October 2009 = Ono Daisuke & Saitou Chiwa.
November 2009 = Okiayu Ryotarou & Ogata Megumi.

We still have the KouHaku Utagassen to look forward to. Mizuki Nana will be performing!

If anyone is curious, I'm listening to this.

The Tweet Zone

• 19:30 Score! RT: @nbccommunity Been meaning to catch up on Community? We're streaming all of Season 1 at NBC.com right now! bit.ly/6xEuUJ #
• 19:41 I couldn't agree more! RT @TotallyQueer81: Heroes is pretty much dead to me and I never got into Fringe. lol #
• 20:30 Wow. #ME2 opening spoiler sounds lame. Thankfully the rest of the game sounds solid so far. #
• 20:45 Video: Wow. Just wow. agentmlovestacos: tumblr.com/x0f4vbvc8 #
• 21:56 Me: I want to see Crispin Freeman's thingies now. Nick: Just laughs. Me: Fail. #
• 22:34 I need to read "Survivor" again, considering I convinced a friend to read it, and I get excited when I read about her reading it. #
• 23:06 I successfully managed to do nothing productive tonight. Go me! #

Submitted for your approval by LoudTwitter.

And now for something completely wacky.


Click the image for a photo gallery.

In January, David E. managed to drive his station wagon into the roof of a church 23 meters [feet] off the ground. Now, he may be in trouble again. For a television re-enactment, he got behind the wheel of a car -- possibly in violation of his driver's license suspension.

His year didn't start well. In late January, David E. made headlines in Germany and beyond when he managed to crash his Skoda Octavia station wagon into the roof of a church some seven meters (23 feet) off the ground. In addition to causing €63,000 in damage to the church, which his insurance covered, the 23-year-old fractured his pelvis, had to pay a €3,000 fine and lost his driver's license for a year.

Now, the end of his year isn't looking so hot for David, either. Following a television appearance last week, during which E. talked about the crash publicly for the first time, he could be facing further penalties. The show included a re-enactment of the crash -- and depicted E. sitting in the driver's seat of a car. Police are now trying to determine whether E. drove for the TV cameras despite having a suspended license.

"We have ordered a video from the television station," a police spokesman told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "We will then take a look at it to see if he violated his suspension."

The police may also investigate the television station, RTL -- and its host, famous German television personality Günther Jauch -- to determine whether it is guilty of inciting E. to violate the terms of his license suspension. The police declined to say what additional penalties could be facing E. were it determined that he drove on the show.

The January accident was singularly spectacular. E. was speeding through the middle of the small, eastern-German town of Limbach-Oberfrohna at three times the legal limit (139 kilometers per hour/86 miles per hour) when he lost control of his vehicle. His car hit an embankment on the side of the road and proceeded to fly 35 meters (115 feet) through the air before crashing into the village church.

Tests revealed that E. had been drinking prior to the accident . On television, he said "my girlfriend was in the hospital, I just wanted to get something real quick."

Instead, he ended up trapped in his car with multiple broken bones high off the ground. E., who has since recovered from his injuries, rapidly became something of a local folk hero for his unintended exploits. T-shirts, mugs and postcards of the incident quickly appeared as did a song.

E. told TV viewers that his mother drove him to the studio for the show. RTL insists that he didn't drive for the re-enactment.


Source.
Link to previous story (also linked from within the article.

It would be just like that TV station to get the guy into even more trouble than he is in right now.

Harkin: Michael Steele Is Redefining The Word Obnoxious

One of the Senate's most soft-spoken members, Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), unleashed a little pent-up frustration on Monday, telling reporters that RNC Chairman Michael Steele was redefining the term obnoxious with his latest histrionics.

On Monday morning, Steele held a conference call with reporters in which he called Democratic Senators crafting health care reform "cowards" who are "flipping the bird" to the American public. Harkin, along with a host of other Democrats, were asked about the remarks during a press conference touting the American Medical Association's endorsement of their bill.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) deemed Steele's comments crass and inappropriate for "someone who has the title Mr. Steele has." But Harkin, standing off to the side, was seen rolling his eyes as he whispered into the ear of Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.)

( Read more )


Steele: Dems Are Cowards, 'Flipping The Bird' To The Public

With health care reform poised to pass the Senate on a party-line vote, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele ratcheted up the rhetoric on Monday, accusing Democrats of acting like cowards and "flipping the bird" to the American public.

Speaking hours after Senate Democrats cleared the first of three major procedural hurdles in passing their version of reform, Steele insisted that what was being witnessed in that chamber was nothing short of "a wholesale hijacking of the health care system in our country."

And he insisted that the GOP's obstructionist efforts were not the reason for the odd scheduling of the first vote at 1:00 a.m. on early Monday morning. "Bad policy is bad policy," he said. "If it stinks, you know it." Rather, the timing of the vote spoke to the "cowardice reflected of this leadership in the Senate and quite frankly Democrats across the country who dare not look the American people in the eye on this issue."

Steele emphasized that he will continue to work with Republican leadership in both the House and Senate to help defeat the legislation, with better prospects (admittedly) in the Senate, where a single Democratic defection could derail the process.

( Read more )

Why wait until New Year? I am resolving to work out for 15 minutes 5 times a week. This way, it's not intimidating to work out when I get home, because it's only 15 minutes. Nick & I did this today, and we had a lot of fun punching & kicking the giant punching bag. Listened to Saves the Day "Sound the Alarm." Good work out music for moving around or cooling down. I really need to solidify this as a habit before ME2 comes out early next year.

Okay so, right after my birthday, a TWEWY Music Video came out on iTunes. Bought it. Well, I have no idea what the lyrics are, so if someone could help..? (Sorry..Tags + Nub = FAIL) Here

Happy Yule, Good Solstice, etc.

It's winter today. Still no snow here, of course. Looks like we're not getting another "ARCTIC BLAST!!!!" like last year. :( *Crosses fingers*

I'm going to go eat a pomegranate now. Seems festive, doesn't it? I heard a song on the radio today that was something about "give me my daughter back". I need to look it up, it was interesting.

I wish I knew where my Avatar: The Last Airbender DVDs were. I'd watch those Winter Solstice episodes! (Well, I just haven't looked yet.)

Oh, babbling. A fun a activity.

Yummy pomegranate time!

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

I have a big favor to ask you guys. Those that are graphic-savvy, I was wondering if any of you would be so kind as to make a cover for a Sukka fanmix? I would love to be able to pay you but sadly I can't. I know that there are many kind members of our fandom, and I realise I am asking a bit much, but you would of course get full credit here and at my LJ. I would be forever grateful - if you can just comment and I will send you the name and songlist as soon as I can.

Thanks!

ATLA Book 1 (Chap. 1-4) Icons!
The Boy in the Iceberg-[01-12]


The Avatar Returns-[13-24]


The Southern Air Temple-[25-36]


The Warriors of Kyoshi-[37-48]

Total Icon Count: 48

Teasers:

Icons are HERE @ gruver26

Woman abandoned in Fairfax as a baby finds her rescuers

Christopher Astle and Emily Yanich were teenage pals strolling back from a 7-Eleven that afternoon in late summer -- two ordinary kids on an ordinary Wednesday after school -- when they found the abandoned baby.

It was Sept. 6, 1989. They discovered the newborn wrapped in towels at the front door of a townhouse in their Fairfax County complex and took the infant to Emily's, where her stepfather called police.

The whole thing was over pretty quickly. The authorities took the baby girl, who was later adopted. Chris and Emily, both 15, went on with their lives, although Emily often cried when she told people the story, and the two called each other every Sept. 6.

Twenty years passed.

Then, on Dec. 2, a college student named Mia Fleming sent them both a message via Facebook: Might they be the same Chris and Emily who had once found a baby left at a stranger's door?

If so, she just wanted to say thanks.

After all these years, the little girl they had found had found them.

( Read more... )

So, apparently, this is going to be a series. Still has no name, though. Not yet.

( Work and another interview tomorrow. )

I'm going to be leaving tomorrow and heading back home. On the plus, I have a house to go home to.

But, I feel very at home here too. Windy's family have been very accepting of me and I feel like I can call them my family too. They don't care that I'm some "strange internet lesbian out to corrupt our daughter." They've taken the time to get to know me and judge me as a person and not some scary idea. They said that I'm welcome here, and I really do feel that way.

My Mom's still a bit "eh" on this whole internet girlfriend thing though she is actively making efforts to accept it. My Dad...still talks around the fact that I even have a girlfriend, so coming here and feeling like I've been accepted is definitely nice. I think my parents just need to meet Windy themselves and maybe some time to get used to it.

I just consider myself lucky that Windy's parents are so open-minded, really. Not everyone gets to be so lucky. I'm still going to miss Windy when I go back home tomorrow of course, but the fact that I can visit again will make it easier I think. It'll be some time before then but it'll worth the wait.

But for now, I'm just gonna hug her like crazy.

This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth with comments.

Threat Level Privacy, Crime and Security Online TJX Hacker ‘Will Never Commit Any Crime Again’

Confessed hacker Albert Gonzalez’s turn as a Secret Service informant led him down a dark path of obsession, culminating in the largest identity-theft spree in history.

Frances Gonzalez Lago, Gonzalez’s sister, wrote his sentencing judge that her brother’s work as an informant for the agency between 2003 and and 2008 seemed to act as a reward for his obsession with computers. “All this seemed okay at the time, but psychologically it was feeding an obsession that in the end would become my brother’s downfall,” she told the court.

The information appears in a 24-page sentencing memo originally filed Tuesday by Gonzalez’s attorney, Martin Weinberg, before it was sealed, along with several exhibits. The memo was unsealed on Friday, with several pages redacted. Threat Level disclosed on Tuesday the information that was revealed in the redacted pages.( cut )
thoughts?

Google Talks Transparency, But Hides Surveillance Stats

Google likes to trumpet transparency and free expression, especially when it concerns the internet, part of its commitment to the corporate motto, “Don’t Be Evil.”

But despite the company’s recent online public policy posts espousing unfettered online expression, we aren’t buying it.

The Mountain View, California, search and advertising giant said Wednesday, for example, that it was a “company that believes deeply in free expression” and that it was “determined to continue to do our part and make new, significant contributions to promote free expression in 2010.”

But juxtapose those and other recent statements on its public policy blog with the real facts — facts that Google won’t cough up.
( cut )
I wonder what they do with the information they get from Chrome.

Israel Admits Harvesting Organs From Dead Bodies Without Permission

Israel has admitted that in the 1990s, its forensic pathologists harvested organs from dead bodies, including Palestinians, without permission of their families.

The issue emerged with publication of an interview with the then-head of Israel's Abu Kabir forensic institute, Dr. Jehuda Hiss. The interview was conducted in 2000 by an American academic, who released it because of a huge controversy last summer over an allegation by a Swedish newspaper that Israel was killing Palestinians in order to harvest their organs. Israel hotly denied the charge.

Parts of the interview were broadcast on Israel's Channel 2 TV over the weekend. In it, Hiss said, "We started to harvest corneas ... Whatever was done was highly informal. No permission was asked from the family."

The Channel 2 report said that in the 1990s, forensic specialists at Abu Kabir harvested skin, corneas, heart valves and bones from the bodies of Israeli soldiers, Israeli citizens, Palestinians and foreign workers, often without permission from relatives. In a response to the TV report, the Israeli military confirmed that the practice took place. "This activity ended a decade ago and does not happen any longer," the military said in a statement quoted by Channel 2.

In the interview, Hiss described how his doctors would mask the removal of corneas from bodies. "We'd glue the eyelid shut," he said. "We wouldn't take corneas from families we knew would open the eyelids."

Many of the details in the interview first came to light in 2004, when Hiss was dismissed as head of the forensic institute because of irregularities over use of organs there. Israel's attorney general dropped criminal charges against him, and Hiss still works as chief pathologist at the institute. He had no comment on the TV report.

Hiss became director of the institute in 1988. He said in the interview that the practice of harvesting organs without permission began in the "early 1990s." However, he also said that military surgeons removed a thin layer of skin from bodies as early as 1987 to treat burn victims. Hiss said he believed that was done with family consent. The harvesting ended in 2000, he said.

( Read more )

Think-Tanks and the Reporters Who Heart Them

The relationship between reporters and think tanks used to be, well, pretty simple. You called up defense expert X for a quote on, say, cost overruns on a stealth fighter jet, and if you were lucky, you’d get something lively. (Free tip to aspiring defense wonks: Try more pop-culture references.) You could attend one of their conferences, listen to one of their panels and perhaps pick up half a sandwich.

Now it’s nearly 2010: Print is dying, newsrooms are shrinking and the media industry is generally in the toilet. The relationship between reporters and think-tanks, at least in the national-security arena, is starting to shift. Think tanks are starting to become full-time patrons of the news business, and they are bankrolling book projects, blogs and even war reporting.
( cut )
thoughts?

Threats of Zeus' thunderbolts against our enemies may soon become reality.

Military Science: Hack Stormy Skies to Lord over Lightning

The military’s scientific fringe has toyed with weather manipulation and geo-engineering for years. Recently, ideas like adding iron to the ocean, or covering the Arctic with dust, have been floated in a bid stave off global warming. But the Pentagon’s also got a long track record of plotting to screw with enemy climates and improve their own operational abilities.
( cut )
thoughts?