ABC News has the story:

The CIA constructed the prison over the next several months, apparently flying in prefabricated elements from outside Lithuania. The prison opened in Sept. 2004.

According to sources who saw the facility, the riding academy originally consisted of an indoor riding area with a red metallic roof, a stable and a cafe. The CIA built a thick concrete wall inside the riding area. Behind the wall, it built what one Lithuanian source called a "building within a building."

On a series of thick concrete pads, it installed what a source called "prefabricated pods" to house prisoners, each separated from the other by five or six feet. Each pod included a shower, a bed and a toilet. Separate cells were constructed for interrogations.

Link

Every once in a while, political parties or local groups will put an animal on the ballot for public office. Every once in a blue moon, that animal will be elected! These eight stories include three critters who actually served (although how well they served is a matter of opinion). Pictured is Clay Henry III, the beer-drinking goat who was once mayor of Lajitas, Texas. Link

Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city’s largest municipal union.

Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park.

"We’ll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails," Balzano told the council.

Balzano said Saturday he isn’t targeting Boy Scouts. But given the city’s decision in July to lay off 39 SEIU members, Balzano said "there’s to be no volunteers." No one except union members may pick up a hoe or shovel, plant a flower or clear a walking path.

"We would hope that the well-intentioned efforts of an Eagle Scout candidate would not be challenged by the union," said Mayor Ed Pawlowski in an e-mail Friday. "This young man is performing a great service to the community. His efforts should be recognized as such."

Link – via Michelle Malkin

The British Royal Mail service commissioned Studio Dempsey to create first class stamps with classic albums covers. The covers include albums from Blur, New Order, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Primal Scream, David Bowie, The Clash, Mike Oldfield, Pink Floyd, and Coldplay -but no Beatles.

The final selection of ten sleeves (which perhaps oddly doesn’t feature one of The Beatles’ album covers) will appear on a set of 10 stamps that will launch on January 7, 2010 – and the stamps will be uniquely shaped, as shown in these images, to accommodate a glimpse of a vinyl disc poking out of each record sleeve.

Link – via babycreativeblog

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Babycreative.

Few people have been as vocal about the urgency of global warming and the need to reinvent the way the world produces and consumes energy as Mr Gore. And few have put as much money behind their advocacy and are as well positioned to profit from this green transformation, if and when it comes.

Critics, mostly on the political right and among global warming sceptics, say Mr. Gore is poised to become the world’s first "carbon billionaire," profiteering from government policies he supports that would direct billions of dollars to the business ventures he has invested in.

Representative Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, has claimed that Mr Gore stood to benefit personally from the energy and climate policies he was urging Congress to adopt.

Mr Gore had said that he is simply putting his money where his mouth is.

Link

While it's chic to complain about the evil of taxes and government, there's an implicit assumption that higher taxes translate to more government services (the age old argument between liberals and conservatives generally revolve around how much government services, and therefore government size, is optimal.)

But do higher taxes actually bring about superior public goods? William Voegeli, in this op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times, doesn't think so. He compared California (a high-benefit (supposedly)/high-tax state) to the low-tax state of Texas:

One way to assess how Americans feel about the different tax and benefit packages the states offer is by examining internal U.S. migration patterns. Between April 1, 2000, and June 30, 2007, an average of 3,247 more people moved out of California than into it every week, according to the Census Bureau. Over the same period, Texas had a net weekly population increase of 1,544 as a result of people moving in from other states. During these years, more generally, 16 of the 17 states with the lowest tax levels had positive "net internal migration," in the Census Bureau's language, while 14 of the 17 states with the highest taxes had negative net internal migration.

These folks pulling up stakes and driving U-Haul trucks across state lines understand a reality the defenders of the high-benefit/high-tax model must confront: All things being equal, everyone would rather pay low taxes than high ones. The high-benefit/high-tax model can work only if things are demonstrably not equal -- if the public goods purchased by the high taxes far surpass the quality, quantity and impact of those available to people who live in states with low taxes.

Today's public benefits fail that test, as urban scholar Joel Kotkin of NewGeography.com and Chapman University told the Los Angeles Times in March: "Twenty years ago, you could go to Texas, where they had very low taxes, and you would see the difference between there and California. Today, you go to Texas, the roads are no worse, the public schools are not great but are better than or equal to ours, and their universities are good. The bargain between California's government and the middle class is constantly being renegotiated to the disadvantage of the middle class."

As a long-time resident of California (whose paycheck got even smaller as the State forcibly imposed a higher withholding), I don't mind paying higher taxes if I got something out of it - so it's intriguing to find out that the reality may just be the opposite: Link

The Dallas Police Department said it was embarrassed by what it calls a mistake by rookie Officer Gary Bromley after he stopped Ernestina Mondragon for making an illegal U-turn.

In addition for being cited for the U-turn violation, Mondragon received another ticket for being a "non-English speaking driver."

Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle issued an apology:

"We don’t have abilities to determine proficiency in any language, and we shouldn’t be doing it in the first place," Kunkle said. "I apologize to the Spanish-speaking Hispanic community."

After a review of the records, Kunkle said about a half-dozen officers had issued a total of 38 similar citations. He said police would recommend to the courts that any pending cases be dismissed.

Link

During president Richard Nixon’s administration, he and his staff compiled a list of political enemies. How well do you know (or remember) this list? Take the challenge in today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss. My memory isn’t what it used to be; I only scored 50%. Link

Today is Blog Action Day, an annual event in which participating bloggers post about a particular issue to raise awareness and trigger global discussion that will – hopefully – bring about positive change. This year’s topic is climate change – which, shall we say, is a wee bit controversial.

We’ll get to some Neatorama-worthy posts on the blog today, but first I’d like to ask YOU what you think about global warming/climate change. Do you believe that it is happening? Or is it just a passing hysteria, much like the concern over global cooling in the 1950s to 1970s?

It’s an open mike – let’s hear your opinion.

So. Unless you’ve been living in a cave, I’m sure you’ve heard that President Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize (surprise!)

The blogosphere was immediately abuzz with … confusion. What has Obama done to deserve to win? Isn’t it a bit premature? Are Norwegians just Obamafans? And does this mean that the Olympics is ditching Rio to come to Chicago? You’d expect this kind of reaction from his political opponents, but it seems that *everyone* was scratching their heads.

I know, I know – no politics on Neatorama. But I’m genuinely puzzled. What do you guys think is going on?

And yes, I made that Super Obamario Bros. photoshop

The Art of Manliness blog has an excellent post turning the wits of Winston Churchill into stylish motivational posters.

I'd like to see Brett and Kate McKay of AoM Blog turn these favorite Churchill quotes of mine into a poster:

Bessie Braddock: Sir, you are drunk.
Churchill: And you, madam, are ugly. But in the morning, I shall be sober.

and

Lady Nancy Astor: Winston, if I were your wife, I'd poison your tea.
Churchill: Nancy, if I were your husband, I'd drink it.

Link

The story goes like this: When administrators of the Maroochydore High School in Queensland, Australia, implemented a policy requiring students and parents to be responsible for attendance and homework, parents of children with failing grades sued. The staff of the school recorded this answering message as a response:

[YouTube Clip]

The video clip is going viral, perhaps it strikes a chord, but unfortunately, it’s a hoax. Old Internet hands will remember a similar clip circulating back in 2002 with a different school name, the Pacific Palisades High School.

Snopes said:

In 1998 the sole high school in the Palisades Charter Schools group, the 2,400-student Charter High School, instituted an attendance policy mandating that any student absent without a valid excuse ten or more days per semester be failed, regardless of his academic achievements. One of the results of this policy was that in February 2002 forty Palisades High teachers assigned a total of 130 failing grades to students whose classwork would otherwise have merited passing grades, because those students recorded absences and tardiness in excess of the school’s stated attendance policy.

After vociferous complaints (and threats of lawsuits) from parents who contended they were unaware of, or didn’t agree with, Palisades High’s attendance policy (even though every student and parent had been informed of it), LAUSD officials said the failing marks might have to be voided because the attendance policy was not submitted to and approved by the school board. Without board approval, the school must follow the policies of the LAUSD, which states that students must be graded on the work they do and attendance may not be used as a reason to fail
them.

The staff of the Pacific Palisades High School did make the answering machine recording though it was never put on the school’s system.

Still. It’s funny. Thanks alientango!

Campaigning MP Valerie Boyer, of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party, said the wording should read:"Retouched photograph aimed at changing a person’s physical appearance".

Mrs Boyer, who has also written a government report on anorexia and obesity, added: "We want to combat the stereotypical image that all women are young and slim.

"These photos can lead people to believe in a reality that does not actually exist, and have a detrimental effect on adolescents. "Many young people, particularly girls, do not know the difference between the virtual and reality, and can develop complexes from a very young age.

"In some cases this leads to anorexia or bulimia and very serious health problems.

"It’s not just a question of public health, but also a way of protecting the consumer."

Link

– Thanks Tiffany!

Speechwriter, author and famous New York Times columnist William Safire has just died of pancreatic cancer.

I don't always agree with Safire's politics, but I've always found his writings to be intriguing and worth the read (not to mention rib-ticklin' when he got going with alliterations)

In memory of Safire, here's my favorite "Rules for Writers," from the man who came up with such gems as "nattering nabobs of negativism" and "hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history":

• Remember to never split an infinitive.
• The passive voice should never be used.
• Do not put statements in the negative form.
• Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
• Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
• If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.
• A writer must not shift your point of view.
• And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
• Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
• Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
• Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
• If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
• Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
• Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
• Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
• Always pick on the correct idiom.
• The adverb always follows the verb.
• Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.

William Safire, R.I.P.

Link: NY Times Obit

Barack Obama’s amazingly consistent smile from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.

First, it was Paris Hilton and now, Barack Obama. Eric Spiegelman noticed that when President Obama hosted a reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he held the exact same smile in every photograph:

Ladies and gentlemen, your President is a robot. Or a wax sculpture. Maybe a cardboard cutout. All I know is no human being has a photo smile this amazingly consistent.

On Wednesday, the Obamas hosted a reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, during which they stood for 130 photographs with visiting foreign dignitaries in town for the UN meeting. The President has exactly the same smile in every single shot. See for yourself — the pictures are up on the State Department’s flickr (link below). And, of course, compressed into 20 seconds for your viewing pleasure.

There can only be on explanation: it was the Obamabot stand-in. The real President Obama was probably too busy dealing with the Russian Dead Hand in an underground bunker to be bothered by this museum stuff!

Blackwater to Xe

If you were hiding under a rock, you may have missed the whole scandal surrounding the government’s use of a private security company to help in the Iraq war. The company, Blackwater, found itself in some hot water after a September 2007 incident that left 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians dead.

In February of 2009, the company tried to help escape their association with the incident by changing their name to Xe (pronounced zee). The name change has so far been completely ineffective, as the state department has decided to no longer work with the company and the company’s founder, Erik Prince, is now being accused of murder after two past employees swore that he eliminated people who were cooperating with a federal investigation of Blackwater.

Source Image Via Markhillary [Flickr]

Philip Morris to Altria

Phillip Morris cigarettes may still be around, but the corporation (which owned Kraft foods at the time of their rebranding) is now called Altria. It seems no coincidence that the name change took place the same day, the company was cleared of charges related to a woman’s smoking-related death. Chairman Louis Camilleri claimed the name change “marks how far we have come and gives us a framework for how much further we aim to go… this is the right thing to do and the right time to do it.”

Unfortunately for Camilleri, it seems most people saw the name change as a pathetic measure to escape the company’s bad reputation. After all, this was the same company whose president swore to congress in 1994, “I believe nicotine is not addictive.”

Source #1, #2

ValuJet to AirTran

The last thing an airline wants to be associated with is a plane crash, but that’s just what happened after ValuJet Flight 592 crashed in the Everglades in 1996. All 110 passengers died and, due to the location of the crash, collecting the remains proved to be a notable challenge. When investigation reports came out, it was revealed that ValuJet’s maintenance contractor, SabreTech, was responsible for the dangerous cargo conditions that led to the accident. SabreTech faced both criminal and civil charges for the incident and subsequently went out of business in 1999.

As for ValuJet, they never faced charges, despite their poor safety record at the time. Not surprisingly, when ValuJet merged with AirTran in 1997, they chose to give up their name in favor of the untarnished AirTran name.
Interestingly, this year AirTran was found to be the safest of 25 airlines in research performed by the Daily Beast.

Source

WorldCom to MCI

In the early 2000s, WorldCom was caught inflating their reported revenues in order to keep stock prices artificially high. The fraud ended up totaling around $11 billion, which sent the company into bankruptcy by 2002. Under the bankruptcy plan, the company had to pay out $750 million to the Securities Exchange Commission, who would then distribute the money to bilked investors. At the time, it was the largest bankruptcy of its type on record (this title was recently taken by the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy last year).

In the year following the scandal, WorldCom acted swiftly to take attention away from the scandal by moving their headquarters from Clinton, Mississippi to Dulles, Virginia and by changing their name to MCI, a company they acquired in 1997.

Source Image Via Mene Tekel [Flickr]

Andersen Consulting to Accenture

Accenture is the only company on the list who didn’t change their name after something bad happened –in fact, they were lucky enough to do it just before something happened. In 1988, Andersen Consulting broke its business relationship with the Andersen accounting group. Under their agreement, the company could keep their name, for a set period of time. In 2000, the company was required to change their name, so they ended up choosing Accenture, meaning an “accent on the future.” A whole lot of people critiqued the new name as a generic corporate word, and the company ended up spending $100 million on execution in what many people consider the worst rebranding attempt in corporate history.

Funny enough though, the name ended up being better than the Andersen Consulting title, as the Andersen accounting group ended up going down in flames for their part in the Enron scandal.

Source Image Via Mrkathika [Flickr]

So Neatorama readers, now it’s your turn. What’s your least favorite corporate name change?

Is the Hitler moustache history?  Since World War II it has not been popular, but long before Hitler rose to power, the toothbrush was the signature look of Charlie Chaplin.   In fact, the tiny moustache was quite fashionable at one time.

Now comedian Richard Herring is sporting a toothbrush moustache for his Edinburgh show, ‘Hitler Moustache’, in which he rails against voter apathy and fascism.  Herring said of his new moustache, "As people passed they would start laughing about five yards behind me. A group of lads called me ‘Adolf’. I haven’t had any sense of anger but I think some people were intimidated or scared."

With such a hairy past, it shouldn’t be suprising that his moustache would get a lot of lip.  But Herring is convinced that a Hitler moustache might grow on us — provided we don’t turn up our noses.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Kalel.

The new mascot was debated for five minutes, and then the Common Council voted 15-4 to make the plastic pink flamingo the official city bird.

The idea was by a 1979 prank on Bascom Hill when the Pail and Shovel Party on campus put out 1,008 of the birds. "It sure lives in Madison lore as a really fun thing," said Wisconsin State Journal writer Doug Moe. Moe proposed the idea in a column, and Alder Marsha Rummel brought it to the council. "Let Madison have a little fun and laugh at itself. We’ve always been pretty good at that. I might suggest in these so-called tough times, a little laughter is not a bad thing," Moe said.

Not everyone embraced the idea of voting on the plastic flamingo. "I respectfully ask for this City Council to devote more time to more serious business at hand," said Alder Thuy Pham-Remmele, of District 20. But Rummel defended bringing the proposal to the council. "We are capable of multitasking in life, and if you don’t have a little fun, it’s not worth living, and I spent like 20 minutes on this since April," Rummel said.

Channel3000 has the story: Link – via L.A. Unleashed

Michael Heagerty was already well known locally as the incumbent Syracuse Common Councilor.  Now that he won’t be running for re-election as a Democrat, he is perhaps a little better known.

Mr. Heagerty fell short one signature to run for re-election as the Democratic nominee for his current position.  However, had he signed his own name on the petition then he would have met the quota.

On Wednesday evening, a reporter broke the news to Heagerty that he didn’t sign. “I didn’t sign my own petition? You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by OddNumber.

Glimpse.org has researched and compiled the ultimate list of sugar daddies (and mamas)—the top five most eligible world leaders.  They’re single and they’re powerful, and you never know when your worldly travels could give you the opportunity to make a play for the Dragon King of Bhutan or the successor to the Monaco throne.

This link has all the information you’ll need.  Did you know Kim Jong-Il’s drink of choice is Hennessy Cognac?  Did you even know he’s a bachelor?

At a glance:
According to North Korean official records, Kim’s birth was announced by a sparrow that descended directly from heaven. Married at least once, Kim is always interested in meeting new people and has had at least three semi-official mistresses with whom he has three or four children, depending on the source consulted. A self-proclaimed “Internet expert,” Kim is also on record as the author of hundreds of books, half a dozen operas, a number of musicals, the design for the Juche Tower in Pyongyang, and the writer and/or producer of dozens of films.

Testimonials:
“He was not some crazy person. He was very polite. He had things he wanted to say. He didn’t work from any notes or talking points. He had tremendous confidence.” – Wendy Sherman, special advisor to Bill Clinton on North Korea

“Topped off with a rakish root-perm thatch, Jong Il resembles a guerrilla version of a Cabbage Patch Doll.” – Hannah Betts of The London Times on Kim Jong-Il’s fashion sense

Says Kim:
“Small as a midget’s turd, aren’t I?” – to South Korean actress Choi Eun Hee whom he kidnapped and brought to North Korea

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by ColinGlimpse.

Now that Walter Cronkite passed, Time decided to ask Americans who their most trusted newsperson was. The results were overwhelmingly in favor of Jon Stewart.

It’s a sad statement that the most trusted name in news is actually a comedian. I’m not sure if it speaks badly about Americans in general or about the state of our news media.

Link Via Good Magazine

The Russian leader proudly displayed the coin, which bears the English words "United Future World Currency", to journalists after the summit wrapped up in the quake-hit Italian town of L’Aquila.

Medvedev said that although the coin, which resembled a euro and featured the image of five leaves, was just a gift given to leaders it showed that people were beginning to think seriously about a new global currency.

"In all likelihood something similar could appear and it could be held in your hand and used as a means of payment," he told reporters. "This is the international currency."

Link (Photo: Alexander Nemenov, AFP/Getty Images)

Do you think it’s a good idea to have a global currency? Why or why not?

The Saturday event, which local legend says began in 1979 when a patron at the Mugs Away Saloon offered to buy a drink for anyone who would moon a train from the Camino Capistrano road, brought between 8,000 to 10,000 people to the city’s streets last year to drink alcohol and expose their rear ends to Amtrak trains, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The city described its Amtrak mooning stance on its official Twitter feed by saying authorities are "saying ‘NO’ to crack."

To help discourage people from participating in the tradition, the City Council passed resolutions in March banning on-street parking in the area near the railroad tracks between Thursday and Sunday this week as well as public drinking and public urination. The city already has an ordinance banning public nudity.

Link (Photo via: Mooning Amtrak)

Sir Bernard Lovell, the astronomer, was among the team listening to transmissions coming from the area of space and began tracking the unmanned Soviet spacecraft Luna 15, which was trying to collect samples of lunar soil and rock and then return to Earth before the US mission.

The recordings from Jodrell’s Lovell radio telescope, which were hidden in archives until researchers found them, show the Russian craft orbited the Moon and crash-landed onto its surface at 15:50 on July 21 – just a few hours before the Americans lifted off. [...]

People in Jodrell’s control room can then be heard shouting "it’s landing" and "it’s going down much too fast" as they track Luna 15’s final moments before it crashes.

A voice is later heard saying: "I say, this has really been drama of the highest order."

Link – via 80beats

The breast issue has proved divisive, with political wranglings leading to the question being struck off the agenda at an earlier meeting in April.

These political cleavages remained on view right up until Wednesday’s meetings with disagreements on both the left and right sides. [...]

According to Forsberg, some on the council had lobbied for wording which would have required women to keep their nipples covered, but Forsberg explained that attempting to enforce such a rule would have been too complicated.

"We don’t define what bathing suits men should wear so it doesn’t make much sense to do it for women. And besides, it’s not unusual for men to have large breasts that resemble women’s breasts," he said.

I’m glad that the city’s sports and recreation committee has finally provided the proper support for this important matter. Rest assured, Neatorama will keep you abreast of the situation: Link

Mr Banda was not peeved, making light of the rude interruption as he sat under a tree in State House grounds.

Journalists laughed as Mr Banda jokingly remonstrated with the offender: "You [monkey] have urinated on my jacket."

"Perhaps these are blessings," he said, looking up at the animal in the tree.

BBC has the video clip: Link

I love a politician who has a sense of humor and can poke fun at himself — like Robert Reich, U.S. Secretary of Labor under the Clinton Administration.  Here he is on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien as a hard-boiled street cop eager to bite crime in the shins.

Via Bits & Pieces

Toronto’s motto is "Diversity Our Strength" which makes it kinda awkward for the City to be busted for this exercise in forced diversity: they photoshopped in (badly) a token black guy for the cover of their Spring & Summer 2009 Fun Guide!

Allison Hanes of National Post has the story:

The smiling, ethnically diverse family featured on the cover of Toronto’s latest edition of its summer Fun Guide was digitally altered to make the photo more "inclusive," which city officials say is in keeping with a policy to reflect diversity.

A spokesman for the department that publishes the guide listing recreation activities confirmed the publication was doctored to insert the face of a different father.

"He superimposed the African-Canadian person onto the family cluster in the original photo. It was two photographs and one head was superimposed over the original family photo," said John Gosgnach, communications director for the social development division.

"The goal was to depict the diversity of Toronto and its residents."

The cover shot caught the eye of a National Post graphics editor, who ran it through a program called TinEye that detects visual enhancements to standard art.

To add insult to injury, none of the people are actually Toronto residents: Link – via Torontoist

Adam Trenk and Thomas McGuire, both in blue jeans and open-collar shirts, strode nervously into Town Hall with their posses. There stood the town judge. He selected a deck of cards from a Stetson hat and shuffled it — having removed the jokers — six times.

Mr. McGuire, 64, a retired science teacher and two-term incumbent on the Town Council, selected a card, the six of hearts, drawing approving oos and aws from his supporters.

Mr. Trenk, 25, a law student and newcomer to town, stepped forward. He lifted a card — a king of hearts — and the crowd roared. Cave Creek had finally selected its newest Council member.

“It’s a hell of a way to win — or lose — an election,” Mr. McGuire said.

Link -via Arbroath

(image credit: Joshua Lott/The New York Times)