Michelle Obama is already a fashion icon, so it was surprising that she didn’t announce her inaugural gown designer long before the event, like some other recent first ladies. But who could blame her for waiting until the very last moment in an attempt to get it right? What she wears will be dissected, debated, widely photographed and eventually enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution. ‘It is the picture image that goes around the world to represent America, said Kay King, who oversees the fashion-design program at Houston Community College. ‘Clothes always send a message. Through their choice of inaugural outfits, first ladies have often offered subtle clues about how their spouse plans to govern. In 1961, Jacqueline Kennedy’s stylish white gown reflected the youthful and vibrant spirit of the new administration. In 1977, Rosalynn Carter reflected a frugal attitude by wearing the same blue chiffon gown she had worn six years earlier when her husband was sworn in as governor of Georgia. Four years later, Nancy Reagan heralded a return to glamour, extravagance and optimism in an off-the-shoulder James Galanos gown and upswept hairdo. ‘It’s the first time you see the first lady in her […]
A volley of rockets has been fired into southern Israel from Gaza, hours after a unilateral Israeli ceasefire began. At least four out of five rockets landed near the town of Sderot, with no reports of injuries. Israel launched an air strike on Gaza in response. The exchange puts an immediate strain on the ceasefire, which followed three weeks of fighting. Israel says its troops will not pull out for now, but Hamas said it would not accept an Israeli presence in Gaza. Nearly 1,200 Palestinians and 13 Israelis have been killed since Israel launched its offensive against Hamas on 27 December. Shortly before the rockets fell, Israeli troops briefly traded fire with Hamas militants in the north of the Gaza Strip after coming under attack, Israeli military officials said. International leaders are due in Egypt on Sunday for a summit aimed at shoring up the ceasefire. Heads of state from across Europe will join Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and UN chief Ban Ki-moon at Sharm El-Shiekh to give their backing to a permanent peace. Olmert warning The rockets were fired at about 0900 (0700 GMT), […]
Scientists have known that male and female mammals respond differently to starvation, with male cells tending to conserve protein while female calls lean toward fat conservation. But what happens in the brain, where cells need a complex set of nutrients to fire properly? A new study of rodents, thought to be a good analogue to humans, offers hints. The upshot: ‘When it comes to keeping brains alive, it seems nature has deemed that females are more valuable then males,’ the researcher said in a statement yesterday. Past studies looking at the effect of starvation on animal bodies have been done mostly by looking at nutrient-rich tissues like muscles, fat deposits, and the liver. Robert Clark and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center grew neurons taken from male and female rats or mice in lab dishes, then subjected them to nutrient starvation over 72 hours. After 24 hours, the male neurons experienced significantly more cell dysfunction. A key indicator called cell respiration decreased by more than 70 percent in male cells compared to 50 percent in female cells. Visually, male neurons showed more signs of autophagy, whereby a cell breaks down its own less vital […]
Despite legal and security hurdles, president-elect Barack Obama says he has a plan to retain his beloved Blackberry once he moves into the White House next week. Interviewed by CNN Friday, Obama said the smartphone was among the tools that he would use to stay in touch with real Americans and avoid becoming trapped inside the presidential ‘bubble.’ ‘I think we’re going to be able to hang on to one of these. My working assumption, and this is not new, is that anything I write on an email could end up being on CNN,’ he said. ‘So I make sure to think before I press ‘send’,’ he said of his Blackberry, which was an ever-present fixture on his belt or in his hand on the campaign trail. Obama did not divulge just how he will overcome legal constraints, given the requirement of the post-Watergate Presidential Records Act of 1978 to keep a record of every White House communication. Nor did he say how he would persuade his Secret Service protectors that the Blackberry does not pose a security risk, for instance if it is hacked over the air. But Obama, who succeeds the unpopular […]
Arab investors have lost 2.5 trillion dollars from the credit crunch, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah, whose country hosts an Arab economic summit next week, said on Friday. ‘The Arab world has lost 2.5 trillion dollars in the past four months’ as a result of the global financial crisis, Sheikh Mohammad told a press conference following a joint meeting of Arab foreign and finance ministers in Kuwait. He also said that about 60 percent of development projects ‘have either been postponed or cancelled’ by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states because of the global meltdown. Arab leaders who hold their first ever economic summit on January 19-20 will discuss the impact of the worldwide economic meltdown on the 22 Arab countries. The biggest loss was an estimated 40 percent drop in the value of Arab investments abroad, which previously totalled around 2.5 trillion dollars. Falls on stock markets contributed more than 600 billion dollars to the losses, while Arab investors were further affected by a sharp decline in oil revenues, the declining value of property investments and other repercussions of the global downturn. Next week’s summit will also discuss the Gaza war […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
